In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, the singer revealed that the maneuver has occasionally caused some painful injuries.
Asked by the interviewer if he’d ever deliberately hit anyone with his mic, the 80-year-old rock legend replied, “I usually hit myself!”
“Every time there’s been some mishap, the microphone has always swung back and hit me, either in the kneecap—which is very painful—or, even worse, in the crotch.”
Daltrey then noted that he’d only deliberately hit someone with his microphone once while performing.
“I don’t know who it was. All I know is that they’re sorry that they threw something that nearly took my eye out on stage,” he recalled. “I happened to see them do it. They were trapped in the crowd. And I was quite a good shot with that microphone.”
Daltrey told the newspaper that he started swinging his mic onstage to try to keep pace with his hyperactive bandmates.
“I twirled it because The Who was such a manic band, with [drummer Keith] Moon and [guitarist Pete] Townshend, that it enlivened my side of the stage,” he pointed out.
Daltrey has compared smashing a guitar to breaking the neck of something (or someone) else he holds close to his heart.
Few things are as synonymous with rebellious, raucous, no-good rock ‘n’ roll as finishing a set by smashing a guitar — be it Kurt Cobain, Phoebe Bridgers, or Pete Townshend, Consequence reports.
During his recent appearance on Shaun Keaveny’s Daily Grind podcast, Daltrey described the one time he engaged in such destruction, as well as the guilt that followed. “The trouble is the guitar was worth 50 gigs,” Daltrey said. “I’ve only ever smashed one guitar and I’m really sorry I did it.”
To illustrate just how deep his feelings of shame ran, Daltrey turned to the surprisingly violent analogy. “I don’t know why, just this thing came over me,” he went on to say. “I’ve always regretted it — I thought, ‘I shouldn’t have done that, that was like killing the wife.'”
It’s an interesting perspective for Daltrey to put forth, as his bandmate Townshend became quite famous for snapping his guitars in half during shows. The Who drummer Keith Moon also showed a penchant for instrument demolition. Though not a guitar, Moon famously rigged his drum kit with gunpowder during a 1967 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, leading to expectedly explosive results.
Unfortunately for American fans, whether The Who concerts feature any guitar smashing is somewhat of a moot point. Daltrey has been candid about the increasing costs of touring, stating that he was “very doubtful” when it came to the prospect of a United States run.
English fans, on the other hand, can catch the band at the 2024 Teenage Cancer Trust concert series, which Daltrey organized. Running from March 19th to March 24th, Noel Gallagher, Eddie Vedder, Robert Plant, and other acts round out the event’s bill. (Somewhat ironically, it’s worth noting that the concert series’ logo features a guitarist mid-smash. To celebrate Daltrey’s last year as an organizer, you can even purchase a limited edition figurine of the guitar smasher.)
A Brief History of Rock Stars Smashing Guitars
Smashing guitar was along seen as a rite of passage in rock, some bands take it even further, wreaking not only their guitars, but the stage, the record label bathrooms, or each other.
In 1964 a new generation of instrument destruction was born. Out of frustration and possibly embarrassment, Pete Townshend began to smash his Rickenbacker to bits, only for the neck to snap on the ceiling of the Railway Tavern in Harrow
“So I smashed this guitar and jumped all over the bits and then picked up the 12-string and carried on as though nothing had happened,“and the next day the place was packed.” Townshend broke more than 35 guitars in 1967 alone. September 1967. Keith Moon filled his drum kit with explosions, which when exploded at the end of the show caused Bette Davis to faint and caused the onset of Pete Townshend’s tinnitus.
Jimi Hendrix doesn't destroy his guitar with reckless abandon; Jimi Hendrix destroys his guitar with passion. He basically makes love to the thing before finally finishing it off. If you ever wondering if there was an art to the guitar smash, look no futher than Jimi the god.
