The Who's Pete Townshend (r) and Roger Daltrey (l) will provide the halftime entertainment for the upcoming Super Bowl.
体育新闻：The Who to Rock Super Bowl Halftime Show （VOA）ZT
This year The Who becomes the latest in a series of rock luminaries to headline the entertainment at the Super Bowl half-time show. But the Who's Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, who played a three-song acoustic set at their press conference, are the first to admit they don't know much about American-style football.
The band, led by surviving members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, are following in the tradition of such British rock legends as the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.
During the Super Bowl's half-time break in Miami, The Who is scheduled to perform a 15-song medley of some of its biggest hits. At a press conference to talk about the show, Daltrey and Townshend compared the length of their performance to the game itself.
"What I find incredible about American football is that we're going to playing for about 12 minutes in the half-time. But I've heard that some games, if you take the advertising out, there's 11½ minutes of (actual) play. I don't know how true that is, I hope I'm not going to be disappointed!"
"What do you mean, we're working for longer than the players?"
"Allegedly."
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers compared American-style football to a popular sport in Britain.
"We have rugby, which is like American football without the breaks and helmets and the padding. But it's a similar game, not the same but very similar."
"With less injuries, actually."
"Yeah, apparently they get less injuries than you guys with all the padding and the helmets. But then the British are a lot lighter."
The renowned British rockers were asked if they had selected a team they hoped would win the game.
"I'm a non-partisan here, all I care is that the best team wins and you get a good game - not one of those boring ones. But if I have to root for one, I'll just say I just think New Orleans could just do with a little bit of luck. And it would be nice for them."
"Well in that case, I'll go for the Colts."
The National Football League says it selects its half-time headliners from a wish list of the top rock acts who have expressed interest in performing at the Super Bowl. The NFL covers the group's expenses, but does not pay an actual fee. About 1,000 people work to prepare the field and stage for the half-time show. But in a change from recent years, there will be no on-field audience gathered around the stage.
The multi-talented Queen Latifah and American Idol alumni Carrie Underwood will also be a part of the Super Bowl entertainment. Latifah says she is proud to have been asked to perform. "When you sing America the Beautiful or the National Anthem you feel like you are representing America. So you just want to show up and you want to do a great job, because you also know that everyone in that crowd is passionate about our country," she said.
Prior to the opening kickoff, Queen Latifah will sing "America the Beautiful," and Carrie Underwood will perform the National Anthem.
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The Who
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They became known for energetic live performances including the pioneering spectacle of instrument destruction.
The Who rose to fame in the UK with a series of top ten hit singles, boosted in part by pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, beginning in January 1965 with "I Can't Explain". The albums My Generation (1965), A Quick One (1966) and The Who Sell Out (1967) followed, with the first two hitting the UK top five. They first hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1967 with "Happy Jack" and hit the top ten later that year with "I Can See for Miles". Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock music festivals. The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top ten albums in the U.S., followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who's Next (1971), Quadrophenia (1973), The Who By Numbers (1975), Who Are You (1978) and The Kids Are Alright (1979).
Moon died at the age of 32 in 1978, after which the band released two studio albums, the UK and U.S. top five Face Dances (1981) and the U.S. top ten It's Hard (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones, before di*****anding in 1983. They re-formed at events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour (1989) and the Quadrophenia tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members discussed recording an album of new material, but their plans temporarily stalled upon Entwistle's death at the age of 57 in 2002. Townshend and Daltrey continue to perform as The Who, and in 2006 they released the studio album Endless Wire, which reached the top ten in the UK and U.S.
The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, their first year of eligibility. Their display there describes them as "Prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band." The Los Angeles Times wrote that during their tenure as a quartet, the band "rivaled The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones as the most vital rock voice of youth." Time Magazine wrote in 1979 that "No other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it." They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988, and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001. In 2008 surviving members Townshend and Daltrey were honoured at the 31st Annual Kennedy Center Honors.
