Roger Daltrey namechecks headteacher who expelled him as a teenager in autobiography title
The Who’s Roger Daltrey has confirmed his first ever autobiography is called ‘Thanks a lot Mr Kibblewhite: My Story’.
The memoir’s title namechecks the headteacher who expelled Roger from school when he was 15 years old for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Inadvertently, Mr Kibblewhite set Roger on the path to rock and roll stardom.
Released on hardback on Thursday 18th October via Blink Publishing, the book follows the full story of The Who frontman’s life from his childhood in post-Blitz London through to the R&B boom, founding The Who and becoming one of the biggest rock stars on the planet.
The blurb promoting the book reads: "Four years in the making, this is the first time Roger Daltrey has told his story. It is not just his own hilarious and frank account of more than 50 wild years on the road. It is the definitive story of The Who and of the sweeping revolution that was British rock ‘n’ roll."
Costing £15.99, you can pre-order ‘Thanks a lot Mr Kibblewhite: My Story’ right here.
Speaking earlier this month, Roger said he had difficulty writing parts of the autobiography due to ‘huge’ gaps in his memory caused by four serious concussions.
74-year-old Roger explained to the Mail on Sunday: “The scariest thing about the memoir is that I have had four serious concussions in my life. There are huge gaps and I wonder why. But there is no wonder why.”
He credited the worst case of concussion to being hit by a microphone stand by disgraced glam rocker Gary Glitter in 1996 in rehearsals for The Who’s Quadrophenia concert at London’s Hyde Park. Roger was forced to wear an eye patch at the gig after being knocked out by Glitter.
‘I broke my eye socket,” Roger said. “I was out for 20 minutes. I did the show with a patch holding my eye in. That is a little bit concerning.”
First announcing his autobiography last year, Roger said: “It’s great that I’ve found a young enthusiastic publisher, an upstart in the world of books, to publish my story. It feels like the right fit.
“I’ve always resisted the urge to “do the memoir” but now, finally, I feel I’ve enough perspective. When you’ve spent more than half a century at the epicentre of a band like The Who, perspective can be a problem. Everything happened in the moment. One minute, I’m on the factory floor in Shepherd’s Bush, the next, I’m headlining Woodstock.
“It’s taken three years to unpick the events of my life, to remember who did what when and why, to separate the myths from the reality, to unravel what really happened at the Holiday Inn on Keith Moon’s 21st birthday.
“I hope the result is more than just another autobiography. I’ve been lucky enough to live in interesting times. I’ve witnessed society, music and culture change beyond recognition. That I’m still here to tell my tale when so many others around me didn’t make it is nothing short of a miracle.”
Roger released his new solo album ‘As Long As I Have You’ on Friday 1st June.