The Who’s opening acts for farewell tour: Billy Idol, Billy Bob Thornton & more

The Who has announced who’ll be opening up for them on The Song Is Over tour.

The eclectic lineup of special guests who’ll appear on various dates include Billy Idol, Candlebox, Billy Bob Thornton — yes, that Billy Bob Thornton — and his band The Boxmasters, Booker T. Jones, Tom Cochrane, Feist, Joe Bonamassa, and The Joe Perry Project, whose lineup includes Perry’s Aerosmith bandmate Brad Whitford, The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson and Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots.

The Who has also added a second night in Chicago, set for Sept. 9. Presale tickets through Citi and the Who Fan Club start May 20; tickets go on sale to the general public May 23 at 10 a.m. local time at thewho.com/tour/. 

Today, Monday, marks Who guitarist Pete Townshend‘s 80th birthday. Over the weekend, Townshend announced on Instagram that longtime drummer Zak Starkey wouldn’t be part of the upcoming tour; Starkey then confirmed he’d been sacked. Some fans expressed dismay that this announcement wasn’t made prior to tickets going on sale.

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