Despite Pete Townshend‘s status as one of the most revered rock guitarists on the planet, not many of his fellow legends took to social media on Monday to wish The Who rocker a happy 80th birthday. But one who did is an artist who’s even older than Pete and arguably even more iconic: Bob Dylan.
Dylan, 83, cheekily wrote on social platform X, “Happy birthday Pete. Who’s the new boss? Is he like the old boss? Have you met him yet? Say hello to Roger.”
The message refers to The Who’s classic song “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” written by Townshend, in which Roger Daltrey sings, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Townshend and Dylan aren’t particularly known for being friends, but Townshend did name-check Bob during The Who’s recent press conference. While discussing the fact that he’s not able to do what he used to do, Townshend said, “But when we look at artists like the Stones, like Bruce Springsteen and other, much older artists like Bob Dylan, one is inspired, in a sense, to think what could we do that would be new and different?”
Meanwhile, Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood did acknowledge Pete’s milestone, as did Billy Idol and, more generically, Eric Clapton.
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
