‘People thought I’d gone mad’: the story of Pete Townshend’s lost rock opera

If only he had made it in 2023, Pete Townshend’s great lost rock opera would not have been lost at all. After the success of Tommy, Townshend portrayed a fascistic society in which music is banned and, in an eerie prophecy of virtual reality and the Covid lockdowns, citizens are forced to live indoors and wear “experience suits”, which keep them glued to distracting entertainment provided via an internet-like system called the Grid. But a handful of rebels break away, face the pollution outside that they have been told is lethal, and come together at a concert by the Who at a place called the Life House. A single musical note leads to a state of spiritual ecstasy for all present and a new