Pete Townshend was given his first guitar at the age of 12, composed his first song at 16, and along with schoolmate John Entwistle, joined singer Roger Daltrey's band a year later. Renamed "The Who", they enlisted the drum-demolishing Keith Moon and soon enjoyed a string of international Townshend-composed successes, including "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard" and "Who Are You?" In this biography the author explores Townshend's often stormy relationship with his Who colleagues, his parallel up and down solo career, and the fierce battle with heroin and cocaine addiction that led to his well-publicized mid-eighties anti-drug crusade.