Hear New Song by the Who, ‘Be Lucky’
The Who's first new song in nearly a decade will arrive in record stores on Oct. 27 as part of the band's new 'Who Hits 50!' collection, but you don't have to wait until then to hear it -- in fact, you can listen to it right now. Check it out above.
Titled 'Be Lucky,' the new song honors the time-honored tradition of tacking new material onto a band's greatest hits -- and since 'Who Hits 50!' honors a full half century of Who tradition, it's only natural that the double-disc set should tempt fans and collectors with something they haven't already heard (and/or purchased five or six times). With more than 20 Who compilations already on the market, including some (like 2002's 'Ultimate Collection') that span multiple discs, it's tough for 'Who Hits 50!' to stand out -- although this set does acknowledge 2006's 'Endless Wire' LP, which may be of note to completists.
'Who Hits 50!' arrives in advance of a U.K. tour that's currently set to run from late November through mid-December, and seems likely to set up a longer series of dates in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Telling Rolling Stone that this tour will be "the beginning of a long goodbye," Who vocalist Roger Daltrey admitted, "We intend to go on doing music until we drop, but we have to be realistic about our age. The touring is incredibly grinding on the body and we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. This will be the last old-fashioned, big tour."
There's no word yet on if or when Daltrey and Pete Townshend intend to finish work on a long-discussed new Who album, or how 'Be Lucky' might fit aesthetically into what they're working on. But Townshend has told reporters that he's a fan of the "pub rock sound" of Daltrey's recent album with Wilko Johnson, 'Going Back Home,' and added, "I gave Roger three demos of three rough songs and happily he likes them ... We may try to make the record in a slightly more basic way than we normally work, although a lot of my writing these days is pretty complicated. It’s more prog rock than pub rock."
Who Hits 50! 2014 U.K. Tour Dates
11/30 - Glasgow
12/02 - Leeds
12/05 - Nottingham
12/07 - Birmingham
12/09 - Newcastle
12/11 - Liverpool
12/13 - Manchester
12/15 - Cardiff
12/17 - London