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Roger Daltrey: The Who Blazed a Trail as the First Heavy Metal Band

Roger Daltrey, frontman for The Who, declared his band to be the original heavy metal act, echoing a sentiment previously shared by bandmate Pete Townshend. This claim highlights the band's influential role in shaping the sound of rock musi

Consequence·May 28, 2026·via Consequence

Roger Daltrey: The Who Blazed a Trail as the First Heavy Metal Band

Roger Daltrey insists that The Who “were the first heavy metal band” in a new interview, claiming they laid the groundwork for the genre back in the 1960s.

“We were just different than everybody else,” the singer told Rolling Stone . “Americans don’t really know the Who from the early ’60s, but as the drummer of Deep Purple [Ian Paice] said recently in a magazine, ‘The Who started it all.’ We were the first heavy metal band.”

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He continued, “Jim Marshall invented the 4×12 [speaker cabinet], 100-watt stack for [Who guitarist] Pete Townshend. All the guitar smashing that Jimi Hendrix became famous for, in his style, was basically copied from Pete Townshend, first of all. And the first rock opera, of course, we elevated rock to be maybe up its own ass in a way, you could say it. We were doing it before anyone, but it’s not important in the long run.”

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Towshend made similar claims in the past, telling the Toronto Sun in December 2019, “We sort of invented heavy metal with [our 1970 album] Live at Leeds . We were copied by so many bands, principally by Led Zeppelin, you know heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did. Cream, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in ‘67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense.”

Both Daltrey and Townshend appear to have a wide definition of heavy metal, with both naming acts that fall more into the “hard rock” category. Black Sabbath, whose debut album came out in 1970, are widely considered the first true heavy metal band, but the Who, along with the Kinks, have a good argument in terms of being pioneers of hard rock.

Maybe more so than metal, the Who have a better claim to being the first punk band, with their early hit “My Generation” possessing a lot of the qualities that would go on to shape punk rock.

The Who wrapped up their final North American tour this past fall, but may still finish up their farewell tour in other parts of the world, although Daltrey says in the same Rolling Stone interview that any additional touring by the band would not happen until next year as Townshend undergoes a knee operation.

In the meantime, Daltrey announced a solo US summer tour that kicks off August 23rd in Mesa, Arizona. Tickets are available here .

_Originally reported by [Consequence](https://consequence.net/2026/05/the-who-roger-daltrey-first-heavy-metal-band/)._