Here you go, Ty:
LOS ANGELES - The two surviving members of veteran rock band The Who will carry on with their North American tour despite the death of the group's bassist, John Entwistle, the group said on Friday.
In a surprise announcement issued by their management, lead singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist-songwriter Pete Townshend said the tour would open on Monday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles ''as a tribute to John Entwistle and to the loss of an irreplaceable friend.''
''The Entwistle family is in full support of the decision to continue and feel this is what John would have wanted,'' the statement added.
Entwistle's son, Christopher, added that his father ''lived for music and will always live within The Who's music. This is what he would have wished, and our love goes out to the remaining band members and the entourage that makes up The Who family.''
Entwistle, a founding Who member regarded as one of the most influential bassists in rock music, was found dead on Thursday in his Las Vegas hotel room, a victim of what was widely believed to have been a heart attack. He was 57.
An autopsy was performed on Friday by the Clark County coroner in Las Vegas, but a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said a final determination of the cause of death would await the outcome of toxicology tests.
Entwistle's death, nearly 25 years after The Who's original drummer, Keith Moon, died of an accidental pill overdose, came on the eve of what was expected to be one of the marquee U.S. concert series of the summer.
Townshend, Daltrey and Entwistle originally were slated to launch a three-month, 24-venue tour on Friday in Las Vegas with an ensemble that included drummer Zak Starkey, son of former Beatle Ringo Starr. That show was canceled, along with a concert slated for Saturday in Irvine, California.
DALTREY, TOWNSHEND DEVASTATED BY FRIENDS'S DEATH
The surviving band members will now launch their tour in Hollywood, with the Las Vegas and Irvine shows to be rescheduled later, the band's managers said.
A source close to the band told Reuters Thursday night that a devastated Daltrey and Townshend spent several hours in Los Angeles after learning of their bandmate's death. Entwistle had arrived in Las Vegas ahead of the others to open a traveling exhibition of his artwork.
The Who drew rave reviews for its last tour of North America and grossed $21.1 million in ticket sales, enough to rank the group 21st among all touring acts in 2000.
Although the band decided to return to the road without Entwistle, his death left in doubt the outcome of a new studio album the group had begun preparing -- what would be their first since 1982's ''It's Hard.''
It also leaves The Who without the figure who had been the band's anchor from its beginning nearly 40 years ago. Affectionately nicknamed ''The Ox,'' Entwistle was long the calm, stationary presence at the center of explosive stage antics of Daltrey, Townshend and Moon, and his musicianship stood out as no rock bassist had before him.
His kinetic playing style, punctuated by intricate fills, counter-melodies and other embellishments, brought his bass lines to the forefront of the group's sound as a quasi-lead instrument.
Bill Leigh, editor-in-chief of the magazine Bass Player, called Entwistle ''the father of audacious rock bass'' whose ''trailblazing approach brought bass to the musical forefront.''
''Entwistle's bass lines possessed a muscle, daring and swagger that compelled listeners to perk up and really listen to his contributions,'' Leigh said. He added that Entwistle greatly influenced such contemporaries as Jack Bruce of Cream and Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as well as later generations of bass guitarists, among them Stone Temple Pilots' Robert DeLeo and U2's Adam Clayton.
Tributes to the bearded, taciturn musician poured in from around the world on Friday.
Bill Wyman, the bassist for the Rolling Stones, called Entwistle ''a great friend for many years -- the quietest man in private but the loudest on stage!''
''He was unique and irreplaceable -- I am shocked and devastated,'' Wyman said.
Organizers of a previously planned all-day film festival celebrating The Who said Entwistle would be saluted in a special tribute during the event Sunday at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
LOS ANGELES - The two surviving members of veteran rock band The Who will carry on with their North American tour despite the death of the group's bassist, John Entwistle, the group said on Friday.
In a surprise announcement issued by their management, lead singer Roger Daltrey and guitarist-songwriter Pete Townshend said the tour would open on Monday at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles ''as a tribute to John Entwistle and to the loss of an irreplaceable friend.''
''The Entwistle family is in full support of the decision to continue and feel this is what John would have wanted,'' the statement added.
Entwistle's son, Christopher, added that his father ''lived for music and will always live within The Who's music. This is what he would have wished, and our love goes out to the remaining band members and the entourage that makes up The Who family.''
Entwistle, a founding Who member regarded as one of the most influential bassists in rock music, was found dead on Thursday in his Las Vegas hotel room, a victim of what was widely believed to have been a heart attack. He was 57.
An autopsy was performed on Friday by the Clark County coroner in Las Vegas, but a spokeswoman for the medical examiner said a final determination of the cause of death would await the outcome of toxicology tests.
Entwistle's death, nearly 25 years after The Who's original drummer, Keith Moon, died of an accidental pill overdose, came on the eve of what was expected to be one of the marquee U.S. concert series of the summer.
Townshend, Daltrey and Entwistle originally were slated to launch a three-month, 24-venue tour on Friday in Las Vegas with an ensemble that included drummer Zak Starkey, son of former Beatle Ringo Starr. That show was canceled, along with a concert slated for Saturday in Irvine, California.
DALTREY, TOWNSHEND DEVASTATED BY FRIENDS'S DEATH
The surviving band members will now launch their tour in Hollywood, with the Las Vegas and Irvine shows to be rescheduled later, the band's managers said.
A source close to the band told Reuters Thursday night that a devastated Daltrey and Townshend spent several hours in Los Angeles after learning of their bandmate's death. Entwistle had arrived in Las Vegas ahead of the others to open a traveling exhibition of his artwork.
The Who drew rave reviews for its last tour of North America and grossed $21.1 million in ticket sales, enough to rank the group 21st among all touring acts in 2000.
Although the band decided to return to the road without Entwistle, his death left in doubt the outcome of a new studio album the group had begun preparing -- what would be their first since 1982's ''It's Hard.''
It also leaves The Who without the figure who had been the band's anchor from its beginning nearly 40 years ago. Affectionately nicknamed ''The Ox,'' Entwistle was long the calm, stationary presence at the center of explosive stage antics of Daltrey, Townshend and Moon, and his musicianship stood out as no rock bassist had before him.
His kinetic playing style, punctuated by intricate fills, counter-melodies and other embellishments, brought his bass lines to the forefront of the group's sound as a quasi-lead instrument.
Bill Leigh, editor-in-chief of the magazine Bass Player, called Entwistle ''the father of audacious rock bass'' whose ''trailblazing approach brought bass to the musical forefront.''
''Entwistle's bass lines possessed a muscle, daring and swagger that compelled listeners to perk up and really listen to his contributions,'' Leigh said. He added that Entwistle greatly influenced such contemporaries as Jack Bruce of Cream and Noel Redding of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as well as later generations of bass guitarists, among them Stone Temple Pilots' Robert DeLeo and U2's Adam Clayton.
Tributes to the bearded, taciturn musician poured in from around the world on Friday.
Bill Wyman, the bassist for the Rolling Stones, called Entwistle ''a great friend for many years -- the quietest man in private but the loudest on stage!''
''He was unique and irreplaceable -- I am shocked and devastated,'' Wyman said.
Organizers of a previously planned all-day film festival celebrating The Who said Entwistle would be saluted in a special tribute during the event Sunday at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.
