Pete Townshend, Eddie Vedder to Celebrate the Who at Cancer Benefit
Pete Townshend and Eddie Vedder will celebrate the music of the Who with a special charity concert in Chicago, raising money for the rock outfit’s Teen Cancer America and other programs that help teenagers and young adults with cancer.
“An Evening Celebrating The Who” will take place May 14th at 8 p.m. at the Rosemont Theater. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, April 21st at 10 a.m. via the Rosemont box office or Ticketmaster, with prices for reserved seats running between $100 and $1,000.
Townshend and Vedder will be joined by an all-star group of musicians, including the former’s brother, Simon Townshend (guitar), Zak Starkey (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), John Corey (keyboards), Loren Gold (keyboards) and Frank Simes (keyboards).
Money raised from the show will benefit various efforts to help teens with cancer at the University of Chicago Medicine, as well as other local children’s charities. The cause is particularly close to the Who, who have been longtime supporters of the U.K. foundation, the Teenage Cancer Trust. In 2012, Townshend and Who frontman Roger Daltrey established Teen Cancer America in the hopes of replicating the TCT’s efforts in the United States.
Last November, Vedder and a handful of other guests — including Liam Gallagher and Geddy Lee — joined Daltrey at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in West London for a concert benefitting the Teenage Cancer Trust that also doubled as the Who’s 50th birthday bash (Townshend, however, was not on hand, with Daltrey joking that he was “at home looking after the dogs”).
The Rosemont gig will come right in the middle of the Who’s sprawling 50th anniversary tour, which begins its North American leg tomorrow, April 15th, in Tampa, Florida. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will open for the Who throughout the trek, the first half of which ends in May before resuming in September.