In a recent appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, actor Nicolas Cage revealed that he was unable to secure an autograph from The Who‘s Pete Townshend despite his admiration for the band.
Cage shared his love for the Who, with a particular fondness for a concert he attended in San Francisco’s Fillmore Stadium. The actor recalled Roger Daltrey’s impressive performance, spinning his microphone to hit a cymbal nearly 50 feet away. Nicolas admitted this performance left him in such high spirits that his excitement was almost too much for his cousin to handle.
However, the actor’s admiration for the rock band didn’t stop at the concert experience. During the interview, he also shared an amusing story about a piece of memorabilia he’d hoped to add to his collection – an autograph from Pete Townshend.
He explained that he had once reached out to Townshend via mail and sent a photo requesting his signature. Much to his disappointment, the autographed photo never returned. Cage humorously speculated that perhaps Townshend did sign the photo, but it simply never made it back through the postal system.
Recalling the first concert he attended, Nicolas Cage said:
“The Who in San Francisco, Fillmore Stadium. I was a big fan of the movie ‘The Kids Are Alright.’ Roger [Daltrey] did this incredible thing where he was spinning the microphone with the cable, and he just hit the cymbal. It was like 50 feet behind him, and he got it right on the cymbal.
I was just so amazed, and when the concert was over, I was just like, ‘Yes!’ and my cousin thought I was absurd because I was so excited I couldn’t stay in my seat. But I was just blown away by that show.”
Regarding whether he’d ever asked someone for their autograph, the actor revealed:
“Yeah, Pete Townshend. It wasn’t in person. I sent him a picture, ‘Would you sign this?’ Maybe he did sign it, but it never came back in the mail.”
Although Nicolas Cage didn’t manage to get an autograph from The Who guitarist after sending him a picture years ago, he might receive an unexpected package from Pete Townshend now that the story has gone viral.
