Black Sabbath are widely seen as the band that gave heavy metal its full identity. For many fans, their dark riffs, heavy sound, and horror-inspired atmosphere mark the true beginning of the genre. But Roger Daltrey believes the story started before Sabbath.
The Who frontman has now named his own band as the real starting point for heavy metal.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Daltrey reacted to Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice’s recent comments about The Who’s place in rock history. Paice had argued that The Who were the band that first pushed rock music into a heavier, louder, and more aggressive direction.
Daltrey agreed with that view and said The Who were already doing things that later became part of heavy metal.
“We were just different than everybody else,” Daltrey said. “Americans don’t really know The Who from the early ’60s, but as the drummer of Deep Purple said recently in a magazine, ‘The Who started it all.’ We were the first heavy metal band.”
Daltrey pointed especially to Pete Townshend’s role in changing rock music. According to him, Townshend was one of the first guitarists to make volume, power, and stage destruction a major part of a rock band’s identity.
“Jim Marshall invented the 4×12, 100-watt stack for Pete Townshend,” Daltrey continued. “All the guitar smashing that Jimi Hendrix became famous for, in his style, was basically copied from Pete Townshend, first of all.”
Daltrey also argued that The Who helped rock music move beyond simple pop songs. With their loud live performances, aggressive energy, and ambitious concepts, he believes the band opened the door for what came later.
“And the first rock opera, of course, we elevated rock to be maybe up its own ass in a way, you could say it,” he added. “We were doing it before anyone, but it’s not important in the long run.”
Ian Paice had made a similar point earlier. Although Deep Purple are often named alongside Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin as one of the key bands in heavy metal’s birth, Paice said The Who deserve more credit than anyone.
“They were the first on the big amp, they were the first to push rock’n’roll beyond pretty little pop songs,” Paice said. “Let’s not forget the importance of The Who.”
He also praised the full power of the band’s classic lineup: Townshend’s violent stage presence, Daltrey’s aggressive vocals, John Entwistle’s controlled force, and Keith Moon’s wild drumming.
That does not mean Black Sabbath’s importance disappears. Sabbath remain the band most often credited with defining the sound and mood of heavy metal as a genre. But Daltrey’s argument is different. He is saying The Who created many of the early elements before metal had a name.
In his view, the first heavy metal band was not Black Sabbath.
It was The Who
