Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers THE WHO have confirmed a powerful lineup of special guests set to join them on their final North American run, “The Song Is Over Tour”. Artists including BILLY BOB THORNTON AND THE BOXMASTERS, Billy Idol, Booker T. Jones, CANDLEBOX, FEIST, Joe Bonamassa, THE JOE PERRY PROJECT (Joe Perry, Brad Whitford, Buck Johnson, Chris Robinson, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz),Tom Cochrane and ZZ Ward will appear across various stops on the historic farewell tour.
Additionally, THE WHO has added a second night in Chicago, Illinois — Tuesday, September 9 at United Center — due to incredible fan demand. Joe Bonamassa will support both Chicago dates.
“The Song Is Over” marks a bittersweet goodbye for one of rock’s most enduring and influential acts, celebrating nearly six decades of groundbreaking music. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announced the tour during a live press conference from London’s Iconic Images gallery, where they also unveiled a rare piece of memorabilia: the American football helmet from their 1974 album “Odds & Sods”, from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Tickets for the newly added Chicago show will be available starting with a Citi presale and through THE WHO fan club (details below) beginning on Tuesday, May 20. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning on Friday, May 23 at 10:00 a.m. local time at thewho.com/tour/. All other shows are on sale now at the same location.
Join the Whooligan fan club to receive early ticket access, exclusive Whooligan merchandise, and a copy of the previously unreleased album “Live At The Oval 1971”, one of THE WHO‘s most legendary shows, which has been newly mixed and mastered from the original tapes.
The tour will also offer a variety of VIP packages and experiences for fans to take their concert experience to the next level. Packages vary but include premium tickets, access to pre-show soundcheck, invitation to the pre-show VIP Lounge, a limited-edition autographed tour poster and more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.
THE WHO “The Song Is Over” 2025 North American tour dates:
Aug. 16 – Sunrise, FL – Amerant Bank Arena =
Aug. 19 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center =
Aug. 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center ^
Aug. 23 – Atlantic City, NJ – Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall +
Aug. 26 – Boston, MA – Fenway Park ~
Aug. 28 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell at Jones Beach Theater $
Aug. 30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden $
Sep. 02 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage >
Sep. 04 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage >
Sep. 07 – Chicago, IL – United Center <
Sep. 09 – Chicago, IL – United Center < (new show)
Sep. 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl ~
Sep. 19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
Sep. 21 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre #
Sep. 23 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena #
Sep. 25 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena #
Sep. 28 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena !
= with BILLY BOB THORNTON AND THE BOXMASTERS
^ with ZZ Ward
+ with Booker T. Jones
~ with THE JOE PERRY PROJECT
$ with FEIST
> with Tom Cochrane
< with Joe Bonamassa
# with CANDLEBOX
! with Billy Idol
Over the weekend, Townshend announced that THE WHO has parted ways with drummer Zak Starkey — the son of THE BEATLES legend Ringo Starr — who had played with the band for three decades.
“After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change,” the guitarist wrote on his official Instagram. “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”
Starkey, who was reinstated into the iconic rock band after being fired in April 2025, confirmed he was let go a second time in a May 18 Instagram post. He wrote: “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endevours this would be a lie. I love THE WHO and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting THE WHO would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox x”.
THE WHO shared in its May 18 announcement that musician Scott Devours, who previously worked with Daltrey, would replace Starkey while Zak pursues other projects.
One of popular music’s most influential and resilient pairings, Pete and Roger have rewritten the rulebook on what it means to be a world-changing live act throughout a sea of seismic shifts that would have put any other rock dyad on the mat. Townshend has commented on their high-performance standard, which has “risen out of the ashes of the halcyon years of rock ‘n’ roll.” That’s why it’s no surprise they’ve stacked some of the best reviews of any performing artists in the past decade. Variety raved “rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest achievement…” about their previous American tour; evidence of their incredible staying power and a testament to an unparalleled repertoire of songs written by Townshend and sung by Daltrey with an attention to detail unmatched in the rock era.
Fans and critics continue to hail Pete and Roger‘s ability to play the long game in music with passion and integrity like few before them. The historic 2025 “The Song Is Over” tour will mark the final face-to-face celebration of this timeless connection with North American WHO fans, forever appreciative of the band’s ability to dispense with nostalgia and deliver authentic rock moments time and time again.
Further proof that the duo is still at the top of their game could be gleaned in a 2024 review of their performance at the Teenage Cancer Trust‘s historic annual concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, honoring the work of its founder, Roger Daltrey, who stepped down from his curatorial role after 24 years. One reviewer of THE WHO‘s performance called it: “One of the most joyous bombastic concerts London’s magnificent Royal Albert Hall has ever seen…”
America’s love affair with THE WHO live began 58 years ago when the band were part of “Murray The K’s Music In The Fifth Dimension”, a series of showcase events at RKO’s 58th Street Theatre in New York over nine days in March and April 1967. The band played just three songs (“Can’t Explain”, “Substitute”, “My Generation”),and other acts on the bill included CREAM, SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES, SIMON & GARFUNKEL and WILSON PICKETT. Later that summer, it was at the seminal Monterey International Pop Festival in California that they rose to prominence in a defining moment of the Summer Of Love. Two years later, THE WHO were once again front and center at the most famous festival of the ’60s, Woodstock, performing an incendiary set in the early hours of August 17, 1969.
THE WHO continued to thrill U.S. fans throughout the 1970s before undertaking their first “farewell” tour in 1982, which featured two shows at the legendary Shea Stadium in New York. When the band returned to the road in the late 1990s and early 2000s perhaps one of their greatest performances was at “The Concert For New York City” at Madison Square Garden shortly after the terror attack of 9/11, their three-song set in front of emergency workers and first responders was met with a primal roar from an audience. When Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were given the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2008 for their contributions to American culture, a tribute performance of “Baba O’Riley” was delivered with a full choir of New York firefighters in gratitude for THE WHO‘s performance at the show.
Photo credit: William Synder / Trinifold (courtesy of Live Nation)
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