Editing Pete Townshend (section)

== Personal life ==
=== Relationships ===
Townshend met Karen Astley, daughter of film composer [[Edwin Astley]], while in art school. They married on 20 May 1968 and moved into a three-bedroom townhouse in [[Twickenham]] in outer south-west London that overlooked the [[Thames]].{{sfn|Giuliano|2002|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=CC_2w_76mWYC&pg=PA81 81]}} They have three children: [[Emma Townshend|Emma]] (born 1969), who is a gardening columnist, Aminta (born 1971), who works in film production, and Joseph (born 1989), who studied graphic design at Central St. Martins.<ref>{{cite news|last=Seigel|first=Jessica|url=http://www.jessicaseigel.com/articles/townshend.shtml|title=Pete Townshend: So Why Did a Guy Who Hates Pinball Write A Rock Opera About it? |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=2 October 1994 |access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref>

Townshend and his wife separated in 1994. He has since been in a romantic relationship with arranger and musician [[Rachel Fuller]], whom he secretly married in 2016. Townshend lived at [[The Wick]], [[Richmond, London]], England, but sold the house in August 2021 for more than £15&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/the-whos-pete-townshends-15-million-london-home-has-been-sold-3009871|title=The Who's Pete Townshend's £15 million London home has been sold|date=3 August 2021|work=[[NME]]}}</ref> He also owns a house in [[Churt]], Surrey, and in 2010 purchased a lease of part of the [[National Trust]] property [[Ashdown House, Oxfordshire|Ashdown House]] in Oxfordshire.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/townshend-talkin-bout-my-national-trust-generation-7p9rrpjdmsn |location=London|date=30 May 2010 |work=[[The Times]]|author=Mikhailova, Anna|title= Talkin' 'bout my National Trust generation|access-date=4 June 2010}}</ref> According to ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' [[Sunday Times Rich List|Rich List]] his assets were worth £40&nbsp;million as of 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/specials/rich_list/rich_list_search/?l=17&list_name=Rich+List+2009&advsearch=1&t=1&x=33&y=3&i=Music |title=Rich List 2009 |newspaper=[[The Times]]|location=London |access-date=22 May 2010 }}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

=== Sexuality ===
In a 1989 interview with radio host [[Timothy White (editor)|Timothy White]], Townshend apparently acknowledged his [[bisexuality]], referencing the song "Rough Boys" on his 1980 studio album ''[[Empty Glass]]''. He called the song a "coming out, an acknowledgment of the fact that I'd had a [[homosexuality|gay]] life, and that I understood what gay sex was about."<ref>{{cite news |title=Pete Townshend Says He Is Bisexual |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1990/11/08/pete-townshend-says-he-is-bisexual/ |newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |date=8 November 1990 |access-date=3 December 2012 |archive-date=30 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530222743/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1990-11-08/news/9011080600_1_pete-townshend-gay-life-bisexual |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 1994 interview for ''[[Playboy]]'', he said, "I did an interview about it, saying that 'Rough Boys' was about being gay, and in the interview I also talked about my 'gay life', which—I meant—was actually about the friends I've had who are gay. So the interviewer kind of dotted the t's and crossed the i's and assumed that this was a coming out, which it wasn't at all."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Interview: Pete Townshend|author=Sheff, David|magazine=[[Playboy]]|year=1994}}</ref> Townshend later wrote in his 2012 autobiography ''[[Who I Am (book)|Who I Am]]'' that he is "probably bisexual".<ref name=dorian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/oct/09/who-i-am-pete-townshend-review |title=Who I Am: A Memoir by Pete Townshend |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |first=Dorian |last=Lynskey |date=9 October 2012 |access-date=4 January 2013}}</ref> Townshend also stated in this biography that he once felt sexually attracted to [[the Rolling Stones]]' lead vocalist, [[Mick Jagger]].<ref name=dorian/>

=== Child sexual abuse images and sex offenders register ===
{{Main| Operation Ore}}
Townshend accepted a [[Police caution|caution]] from the [[Metropolitan Police]] (the Met) as part of [[Operation Ore]], a major investigation on [[child pornography|child sexual abuse images]] conducted in 2002–2003. The Met stated that "it was established that Mr. Townshend was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images". Townshend was on a [[sex offenders register]] for five years, beginning in 2003, after admitting he had used his credit card to access a [[child pornography|child sexual abuse images]] website.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|first=Jamie|last=Wilson|title=Pete Townshend put on sex offenders register |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/may/08/arts.ukcrime |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London, England |date=8 May 2003 |access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19876936 |title=Pete Townshend says court 'would have destroyed me' |work=BBC News |date=9 October 2012 |access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref> Townshend said he accessed the images as research in a campaign against [[child sexual abuse]]<ref>{{cite news|first=Mark|last=Taylor|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/sep/28/pete-townshend-internet-child-abuse-images|title=Pete Townshend book describes 'insane' attempt to expose internet child abuse|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|location=London |date=27 September 2012|access-date=18 October 2018}}</ref>—specifically, to prove that British banks were complicit in channelling the profits from [[paedophile]] rings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/9572773/Pete-Townshend-I-paid-for-child-porn-to-prove-British-banks-were-channelling-sex-ring-cash.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/9572773/Pete-Townshend-I-paid-for-child-porn-to-prove-British-banks-were-channelling-sex-ring-cash.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Pete Townshend: I paid for child porn to prove British banks were channelling sex-ring cash|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London, England|date=28 September 2012|access-date=18 October 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Authorities could not prove that the website accessed by Townshend involved children, and no incriminating evidence was found on his personal computer.<ref>{{cite web |first=Duncan |last=Campbell |author-link=Duncan Campbell (journalist, born 1952) |url=https://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/journalism/pcpro/sex_lies_videotape.pdf |title= Sex, Lies and the Missing Videotape |magazine=PC PRO |date=June 2007 |via=duncancampbell.org |access-date= 23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020100309/https://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/journalism/pcpro/sex_lies_videotape.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Hearing loss ===
Townshend suffers from partial [[deafness]] and [[tinnitus]], likely the result of [[noise-induced hearing loss]] from long-term exposure to loud music. The Who were known as a very loud band in their live performances; for example, a Who concert at the [[Charlton Athletic Football Club]] on 31 May 1976—where the volume level 32 metres from the stage was measured at 126 [[decibel]]s—was listed as the "Loudest Concert Ever" by the [[Guinness Book of Records]]. Townshend has also attributed his hearing loss to the explosion of Keith Moon's drum set during a 1967 Who appearance on ''[[The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Grow |first=Kory |date=4 March 2016 |title=Flashback: Watch the Who Blow Up 'Smothers Brothers' in Primetime |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/flashback-the-who-blow-up-smothers-brothers-in-primetime-20160304 |access-date=15 August 2016 |archive-date=16 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816180330/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/flashback-the-who-blow-up-smothers-brothers-in-primetime-20160304 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group [[H.E.A.R.]] (Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). After the Who performed at half-time at [[Super Bowl XLIV]] in 2010, Townshend stated that he is concerned that his tinnitus has grown to such a point that he might be forced to discontinue performing with the band altogether. He told ''Rolling Stone'', "If my hearing is going to be a problem, we're not delaying shows. We're ''finished''. I can't really see any way around the issue." [[Neil Young]] introduced him to an [[Audiology|audiologist]] who suggested he use an [[in-ear monitor]], and although they cancelled their spring 2010 touring schedule, Townshend used the device at their one remaining London concert on 30 March 2010, to ascertain the feasibility of Townshend continuing to perform with the Who.<ref name="Tinnitus RS1">{{cite magazine |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/18/the-whos-future-uncertain-as-townshends-tinnitus-returns/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221054237/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/18/the-whos-future-uncertain-as-townshends-tinnitus-returns/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 February 2010 |title=The Who's Future Uncertain as Townshend's Tinnitus Returns |date=8 February 2010 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=21 February 2010}}</ref>

In March 2011, Roger Daltrey said in an interview with the [[BBC]] that Townshend had recently experienced gradual but severe [[hearing loss]] and was trying to save what remained of his hearing: "Pete's having terrible trouble with his hearing. He's got really, really bad problems with it...not tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing".

Referring to that, in July 2011, Townshend wrote at his blog: "My hearing is actually better than ever because after a feedback scare at the [[indigO2]] in December 2008 I am taking good care of it. I have computer systems in my studio that have helped me do my engineering work on the forthcoming Quadrophenia release. I have had assistance from younger forensic engineers and mastering engineers to help me clean up the high frequencies that are out of my range. The same computer systems work wonderfully well on stage, proving to be perfect for me when the Who performed at the Super Bowl and doing Quadrophenia for [[Teenage Cancer Trust|TCT]] at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] in 2010. I'm 66, I don't have perfect hearing, and if I listen to loud music or go to gigs I do tend to get tinnitus".

=== Political views ===
In 1998, Townshend was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the [[UK Labour Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/161057.stm |title='Luvvies' for Labour |work=BBC News |date=30 August 1998 |access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> He refused to let [[Michael Moore]] use "[[Won't Get Fooled Again]]" in ''[[Fahrenheit 9/11]]'' (2004), saying that he watched ''[[Bowling for Columbine]]'' (2002) and was not convinced.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rashbaum |first=Alyssa |date=13 July 2004 |title=Pete Townshend Says Don't Be 'Fooled' By Michael Moore |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/yw68t8/pete-townshend-says-dont-be-fooled-by-michael-moore |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617203943/https://www.mtv.com/news/yw68t8/pete-townshend-says-dont-be-fooled-by-michael-moore |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 June 2023 |publisher=MTV |access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref> In 1961 while in art school, Townshend joined the [[Young Communist League (UK)|Young Communist League]] and was a prominent figure in their 1966 "Trend" recruitment campaign. In a 1974 ''[[Penthouse (magazine)|Penthouse]]'' interview he stated that he recognised in practice he was a [[capitalist]] who was rewarded well for his work, but that his ideals were [[communist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewho.net/articles/penthouse_1974.htm |title=The Hypertext Who › Article Archive › Penthouse Interview (1974) |website=Thewho.net |access-date=4 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714200124/http://www.thewho.net/articles/penthouse_1974.htm |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref>

In a widely reported 2012 interview with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], Townshend described himself jokingly as being "a bit of a [[neocon]]" stating that, "I like the idea of America as the world's police force. Then we don't have to do it. You guys sort it out."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pete-townshend-neocon-neoconservative-the-who-admits-r_n_2244317|title=The Who Guitarist Says He Is A Neoconservative|first=Cavan|last=Sieczkowski|date=5 December 2012|website=[[HuffPost]]|access-date=12 May 2019}}</ref>

In a 2019 interview with ''[[The Times]]'', Townshend revealed he was in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the [[European Union]], stating, "I'm a [[Britain Stronger in Europe|Remainer]], he [Roger Daltrey] is a [[Vote Leave|Brexiteer]]. I believe in God, he doesn't."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/the-who-new-album-pete-townshend-roger-daltrey-interview-6wh7gzltz|title=The Who on a new album, ageing and artistic differences|first=Will|last=Hodgkinson|website=[[The Times]]}}</ref>