The Who’s John Entwistle dead at 57
ByJun 26, 2002 10:00 PM
John Entwistle, bassist for the Who, was found dead of an apparent heart attack in a Las Vegas hotel room on Thursday (6/27). He was 57.
John Entwistle, bassist for the Who, was found dead of an apparent heart attack in a Las Vegas hotel room on Thursday (6/27). He was 57.
According to fire department reports, Entwistle’s body was found at about noon in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Entwistle was in Las Vegas preparing for the band’s North American tour, which had been scheduled to open at the Joint--a club at the Hard Rock Hotel--on Friday (6/28). The band’s entire 27-date outing will likely be canceled, but only the Las Vegas and Irvine, Calif., shows had been officially called off at press time.
Following the tour, Entwistle, vocalist Roger Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend had planned to head into the studio to record their first new album since 1982’s “It’s Hard.”
Entwistle was considered one of rock’s most influential bass players. His instrument was always high in the band’s mix, and his complex basslines compensated for the fact that the band didn’t have a rhythm guitarist. Onstage, he was a stoic counterpoint to the high-energy antics of Daltrey, Townshend and late drummer Keith Moon.
Entwistle’s death leaves Daltrey and Townshend as the only surviving original members of the Who. Moon died of a drug overdose in 1976.
Though Townshend was the band’s primary songwriter, Entwistle penned several well-known tracks for the Who, including “Boris the Spider,” “Trick of the Light,” and “My Wife.”
A native of Cheswick, England, Entwistle--along with Daltrey and Townshend--joined a band called the Detours in 1963. They were later joined by Moon--who was playing in a surf group called the Beachcombers--and changed their name to the Who in 1964.
The Who was a key act in the U.K.’s ‘60s-era mod movement, and churned out three-minute gems like “My Generation,” “Substitute,” and “I Can’t Explain.” The band didn’t crack the U.S. Top 40 until 1967’s novelty hit “Happy Jack.”
By the late ‘60s, the Who had broken from the pop-single formula, and focused on albums. It released the rock opera “Tommy,” the tale of “a deaf, dumb and blind kid,” in 1969. The band’s 1971 album, “Who’s Next"--which emerged from the ashes of Townshend’s “Lifehouse” concept album--is widely considered one of the best rock LPs ever recorded.
The Who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.