Pete Townshend told fans late last week via a post on his website that the band intended to continue to tour despite the sudden death of one of the founding members John Entwistle. The tour will begin tonight (July 1st) with a performance at The Hollywood Bowl. The Who said in a statement that tonight’s show and the entire tour will serve as a tribute to John Entwistle. 

Some fans expressed disbelief that The Who would go on tour less than one week after they lost a friend and band member they had worked with for almost four decades. But apparently Entwistle’s family has given the band their blessing to continue. A statement issued by the Who camp said that John’s family "is in full support of the decision to continue and feel this is what John would have wanted. His son Christopher said today, 'He lived for music and will always live within the Who's music. This is what he would have wished and our love goes out to the remaining band members and the entourage that makes up the Who family.’" 

The Who have called upon the British session musician Pino Palladino to play bass on the tour. Palladino had previously worked with members of The Who on solo projects as well as Eric Clapton and Stevie Nicks. 

Entwistle was found dead in his Las Vegas Hotel room last Thursday. It appears that he died of a heart attack but an official cause of death is not yet known. The band was to begin their tour on Friday in Las Vegas. 

Some fans that had tickets to the Friday night concert gathered at The Joint, where the concert was to be held and paid tribute to the legendary bassist. To accommodate the grieving fans the venue aired the Who’s film “Quadrophenia”.  

The band plans to play all of the scheduled tour dates and will reschedule the Las Vegas and Irvine, California shows that were cancelled following Entwistle’s death. 

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