Roger Daltrey has reacted to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice’s recent claim that heavy metal was invented by The Who.
Daltrey, 82, says his bandmate Pete Townshend was the first rocker to push onstage antics and volume levels to the extreme, inspiring other artists who are often cited as having invented the genre.
He tells Rolling Stone: “We were the first heavy metal band.
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“We were just different than everybody else. Americans don’t really know the Who from the early 60s, but as the drummer of Deep Purple said recently in a magazine, ‘The Who started it all.’
“Jim Marshall invented the 4×12, 100-watt stack for 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.”
It’s not the first time Tho Who have laid claim to having invented metal. Back in 2019, guitarist Townshend said the band “sort of invented heavy metal” with the release of their 1970 album Live At Leeds.
Paice’s comments were made in an interview with Metal Sticks. He said: “We helped create what I call ‘the second coming’ of metal. Everything else, the band that did it first – The Who did it before everybody.
“They were the first on the big amp, they were the first to push rock’n’roll beyond pretty little pop songs. Let’s not forget the importance of The Who.
“They just changed everything for kids who wanted to do something a little more violently. Townshend’s notion onstage, Daltrey’s aggressive singing and then the control of John Entwistle and the madness of Keith Moon.”