Pete Townshend Apologizes To Seven Year Old

 

 

I called him a hateful jerkface in my last blog, and due to that he’s now apologized to that little girl and her father.

Actually, I had nothing to do with it at all, but wouldn’t that be cool? I wish I had that kind of pull.

Yep, so an apology has come from old, crotchety Pete. If you’re not familiar with the story, Pete Tonwshend was performing a concert in Canada on February 19th when a fans daughter held up a sign that said: “Smash Your Guitar Pete!”. If you’re familiar with The Who’s guitarist, back in the day he would break his guitars on stage, but he hasn’t done any of that in decades. Well, this apparently angered him and he said the following:

“Don’t wave that sign, just don’t wave it at me. Don’t bring your children and use them. I want to tell you two words, but I can’t because you have a child on you.”

He then clearly mouthed “F*** Off”.

So when I heard this I blogged about it, calling him a jerk. Which I still think he is. Here’s my original posting: http://959thehawk.com/2013/02/24/pete-townshend-is-a-jerk/

Well he has now come out and made the apology, which I think he owed.

“Apologies and condolences from my side, and very best wishes to you and your family,” Townshend wrote, saying he would like to “meet and be friends and put this behind us.”

“I asked my friend Mike Tyler to find you so I could tell you that I am so sorry the story about us blew up the way it did, but also to tell you that I sympathize with you both, and your daughter’s mother, and that I am most certainly not angry,” Townshend reportedly said in his letter. “I was not angry on stage either. I was in rock star mode, the big mouth. I could have handled it differently. I thought of sending someone to find you both and telling you I was not upset, but we were flying to New York straight after the show, and had no time to spare. I wish things had been different. It would have saved you from all this furor.”

He also addressed the girl directly. “I thought your placard was fun. I had a job to do (to announce our musicians) and I didn’t want to lengthen the show by trying to deal with you directly and in detail. I was also worried that your daughter looked a little frightened as the crowd started to follow you down the aisle. The ushers should not have let you leave your seats and walk forward. All that said, you did nothing wrong.”

Like I mentioned on the air and in my last blog about this, if he told the father to toss off, that’s fine. That’s rock n roll. To a seven year old girl though? What a jerk. I still don’t think he’s the coolest rocker out there, but at least he made amends. Good for you Pete, ya jerk.