Tommy at 50

The definitive illustrated companion to the Who's legendary Tommy album.



Foreword by Pete Townshend



This updated and expanded edition of Tommy at Fifty is the definitive illustrated companion to the album that made the Who one of the greatest and most influential bands of the rock era. Written by two leading experts on, and close associates of, the group—journalist and author Chris Charlesworth and original album cover designer Mike McInnerney—it considers the album from four distinct angles, examining the mood of its creation, the origins of its music, the look of the artwork and its subsequent film adaptation, and its enduring legacy.



With a foreword by Pete Townshend and cover art created exclusively for this book by McInnerney, Tommy at Fifty offers an unparalleled window into the Who’s finest hour. With the exception perhaps of My Generation, Tommy remains the work with which the Who are most closely associated. It’s the album that turned Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon into millionaire superstars, and, like its Messiah figure title character, it casts a long shadow over both their subsequent work together and the canon of 20th‐century rock music.