The Who singer Roger Daltrey says he is going deaf and blind

Roger Daltrey is certainly feeling the march of time, but it won’t stop him from taking to the stage.

During a charity concert on Thursday at London’s Royal Albert Hall, The Who frontman shared a surprising health update.

“The joys of getting old mean you go deaf,” Daltrey, 81, told the audience in between songs. “I also now have got the joy of going blind. Fortunately, I still have my voice.”

He added, “If I lose that, then I’ll have a full Tommy.” The reference to the band’s 1969 rock opera — about the fictitious Tommy Walker, who is deaf, nonverbal, and blind — earned a laugh from the crowd. Afterward, Daltrey and bandmate Pete Townshend launched into their next song in the show, raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Later in the set, Townshend, 79, revealed that he is recovering from a knee replacement: “Four and a half weeks ago, I had my left knee replaced,” he said, sharing that the injury came from dancing. “Maybe I should auction off the old one.”

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Daltrey previously opened up about the “joys” of aging last year, when he announced plans to step down as curator of the annual Teenage Cancer Trust concerts, a position he had held since launching the fundraising initiative in 2000. The Cure singer Robert Smith has since assumed the role.

Following the news, Daltrey penned a “backstage diary” for The Times, where he got candid about aging and his decision to retire from the curator role.

“I have to be realistic. I’m on my way out. The average life expectancy is 83 and with a bit of luck, I’ll make that, but we need someone else to drive things,” he wrote, adding that he would continue to be a patron and active participant in the charity.

As for maintaining his voice, Daltrey has certainly put in the effort to keep that particular asset intact. Just last year, before his nine-date tour across North America, the singer warned fans not to expect a live rendition of the famous scream that comes at the end of The Who’s eight-minute opus, “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” because it’s “brutal on the vocal cords.”

“I’m not gonna do the scream. I’m gonna get the f—ing audience to do the scream,” he said at the time. “I’ve done that scream for 55 years, and I’ve had enough of it. I don’t even want to try it now.”

He added, “They can do the scream, and I’ll do everything else. I’m more into singing these days. At the age of 80, I think I deserve to be.”