2 Feb 2013
The Who light a fire to persuade fellow artists to support Teen Cancer America
The Who’s ongoing support for teenagers suffering with cancer is well documented. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have helped Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK raise more than £15m ($24m) through the annual concert series at the Royal Albert Hall in London. And they have recently put their name and energy behind founding and supporting a new charity – Teen Cancer America (TCA). Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK are consultants to the new charity, giving the benefit of their 21 years of experience.
One dollar from every ticket sold for The Who’s North American tour is being donated to TCA.
“Without teenagers, we wouldn’t have had our career,” says Who singer Roger Daltrey, “so helping teenagers unfortunate enough to suffer from cancer to be treated in hospital environments dedicated to their needs is the least we can do. We’re just lighting the fire, though, with our WHO CARES program. We’re English, me and Pete, so we can only do this at arms’ length. What really needs to happen is for U.S. artists to get behind Teen Cancer America and do their bit, get their fans to ‘like’ the Teen Cancer America pages on FACEBOOK, get tweeting on TWITTER, create their own fundraising initiatives.
Here’s a picture and a letter that’s just come in from a grateful father, whose daughter enjoyed a wonderful experience at The Who’s gig at the Staples Center in Los Angeles:
To www.thewho.com,
Rachael Greenstone, age 18 woke up one day feeling very ill. Turns out she was dealt small cell cancer of the ovary. A very rare and aggressive cancer that can be as scary and ominous as one can imagine. Surgery, chemo, radiation and numerous travails along the way, Rachael has emerged from the darkness with hope, spirit and passion for living. Yesterday, in meeting Roger we all reaffirmed the goodness that comes from people who care (and who just also happen to be amazing musicians!!!). Watching the faces of my son and daughter during sound check brought tears to my eyes. This meeting was able to occur because you extended yourself to make something happen. I am not sure if there is any proper way to thank you but rest assured you gave three folks from Los Angeles a memory that will last a lifetime. Thank you from the bottom our hearts. The only way we could ever repay Roger for his kindness and friendship is to spread the word of the Teen Cancer America Centers and do what we can to forward their vital proposition.
Sam Greenstone,
Los Angeles
The Who are ending their tour of North America with a benefit concert at The Theatre Madison Square Garden on February 28 for Teen Cancer America. Funds raised will go towards building a teen and young adult cancer unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Extra funds will go towards building a unit in Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital and other TCA-affiliated hospitals.
Elvis Costello and The Imposters are also generously performing for the charity.
To buy tickets, go HERE
I can equil john it is my birthright
How Roger Daltrey hasnt been knighted in the uk is beyonf belief
the amount of work and money he has raised for teanage cancer trust he should be made a saint!
I am so happy to see, that my favorite singer earns so much respect for what he has done. And yes, it seems very strange that the the English Royal house hasn`t noticed, and valued this fantastic work yet!
Pete and Roger, I have wanted to do something to help the Teenage Cancer Trust for years. Now that you have brought this wonderful charity here to America maybe I can do just that. I was recently diagnosed with Kidney Cancer.
I need to build up my spirit to beat this cancer inside of me. Raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Teen Cancer America is my way of doing just that. That is this artist’s fundraising initiative to help American and British teens with cancer.
Pete, do you remember that we talked about the Who song “Athena” being written about my poster “Athena?”
Here is a little back story for you Who fans that have never heard about this true story before.
It was during my Sept. 1983 meeting with Pete Townshend at his studio/house on the River Thames, concerning The Who singing the song “Athena” about my poster “Athena.” That Townshend asked me if I was the artist who made the poster. That was the first time anyone had called me an artist. Thanks Pete!
Then Townshend told me he had never seen my poster before. I went parental on Townshend and said. “Peter, I’m the guy who sent this poster to Yoko Ono.” That is when Townshend let me know that he was not going to change his publishing rights, just for me. I shook Townshend’s hand thanking him for doing the song “Athena” about my poster.
I created this poster in 1980 to inspire the people of the world to learn how to live in peace. The summer of 1981 I sent 4 copies of my poster to Yoko Ono asking Ono to send one copy each to Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, and The Who. I even requested that the aforementioned artist’s sing a song about my poster. Then I asked Ono to have those songs become part of a musical mystery similar to the Beatles “Paul is Dead” story. And let the fans figure out if the songs are actually written about my poster.
Ono did what I asked her to do. My dream became a reality when the songs about my poster were released. That dream turned into a nightmare when no one was willing to examine the evidence because they thought I was lying.
It’s a mystery you are not supposed to believe me. You are supposed to play the part of the detective and solve the mystery. You are supposed to figure out if my story is fiction or non-fiction. “People lie, evidence never lies, go by what the evidence tells you.”
Outside of his First Avenue concert in December of 2006, Sean Lennon referred to me as “the Vanilla Sky Guy”. That’s my reality!
Thank you Pete and Roger for making my dream come true! Unfortunately the following glitch turned my dream into a nightmare. “Condemnation without investigation is the height of ignorance.” – Albert Einstein