Daltrey's Secret Surgery Saved Voice
The Who frontman had surgery in 2009 to remove pre-cancerous growths in his throat
Roger Daltrey’s voice was saved last year when he underwent surgery to remove pre-cancerous growths in his throat.
Fans had noticed Daltrey’s below-par voice at the Superbowl Half-time show last January, but it seems that almost everyone was unaware that just weeks earlier he had undergone surgery.
"My voice wasn't performing in a normal way," he told CBS Los Angeles last month. "It was becoming hard work to sing. I just got lucky that somebody put me in touch with Steven Zeitel at Mass General. He saw me and told me that he didn't like what he saw."
One week before Christmas 2009 Daltrey went under the knife. "He took off what he could from the problem area on my vocal cord," Daltrey said. "He said it wasn't cancer, but it was a pre-cancerous growth and you have to keep an eye on it...I see him every time after I finish a tour and he swears that he'll keep me singing into my 80s. That might upset some people, but it keeps me happy."
The Who are now back up and running following Daltrey’s recovery and Pete Townshend’s tinnitus problems and are expected to be out on the road in 2011.