The Who frontman Roger Daltrey to headline Heritage Live at Audley End this summer
The Who frontman Roger Daltrey is the first headliner to be announced for this summer’s Heritage Live Festivals at Audley End House and Gardens.
The open-air show at the English Heritage stately home near Saffron Walden on Friday August 1 will also feature Ocean Colour Scene and Cast.
Daltrey will be performing at the grand old age of 81 and rolling out the hits by the iconic band, formed in 1964, and from a successful solo career.
Giles Cooper, from Heritage Live, said: “Roger Daltrey is a true legend and we are so excited to welcome one of the greatest names in the history of rock to the stunning grounds of Audley End. This will undoubtedly be a gig that is etched in our memories for many years to come!”
With The Who, Daltrey was the voice of timeless classics like Substitute, Who Are You, Won’t Get Fooled Again and Baba O’Riley, as well as pioneering rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia.
The band’s trailblazing style and unique contribution to rock earned a plethora of gongs including a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Daltrey’s solo career began in 1973 with the single Giving It All Away, which reached number 5 in the UK charts. His most recent album was 2018’s acclaimed top 10 hit As Long As I Have You.
He will be accompanied at Audley End by his nine-piece band, including regular The Who collaborator Simon Townshend on guitar and vocals. He is the younger brother of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend
They will be joined by John Hogg (bass), Doug Boyle (guitar), Steve Weston (harmonica), Jody Linscott (percussion), Billy Nicholls (backing vocals), Katie Jacoby (violin), Geraint Watkins (keyboard) and Scott Devours (drums).
In 2024, Daltrey bowed out as figurehead for the Teenage Cancer Trust after 24 years – during which time he raised around £34 million with star-studded concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. He remains an honorary patron of the charity and an active campaigner.
Ocean Colour Scene – with their core members of frontman Simon Fowler, guitarist Steve Cradock and drummer Oscar Harrison – have notched up 10 albums of influential and commercially successful hits since their formation in Birmingham in 1989.
Three of these – 1996’s Moseley Shoals, 1997’s Marchin’ Already and 1999’s One From The Modern –went top 5, and included a run of nine successive top 20 singles commencing with The Riverboat Song in 1996.
OCS will precede their Audley End support slot with a headline appearance at the Sign of the Times festival at Church End, near Little Hadham, in July.
Originally formed in 1992, Cast have released four hit albums. The second, Mother Nature Calls, went platinum and produced top 10 singles Free Me, Guiding Star, Live the Dream and I’m So Lonely.
The band split in 2001, but since re-forming a decade later, they have released three albums including last year’s Love Is The Call.
As well as a trip to Audley End, they will support Oasis at Wembley Stadium this summer.
Tickets for the Heritage Live show will be available on pre-sale on Wednesday February 5 at 9am. Customers must pre-register at https://arep.co/p/rogerdaltrey for pre-sale access. Tickets will then go on general sale on Friday February 7 at 9am from AXS.com/heritagelive.