The Who have started other tours believing they were bidding farewell to the road, but Roger Daltrey knows the group's 50th anniversary dates are definitely the "last big tour we'll ever do."

"We have to be realistic," Daltrey told Rolling Stone. "I want us to stop at the top of our game when we are still really good at what we do. The quality of the music is really what this is all about."

That said, Daltrey argued that the current incarnation of the Who is "amazing" in concert. "There's something about old rock musicians with good music. It just gets better," he continued. "Maturity brings something extra to it. What it loses in the youthful exuberance, it makes up with the scars of age."

And although the singer maintains that his vocal cords are "better now than they've ever been," he added that there's something satisfying about taking a victory lap while he's still in command of his instrument: "There's something about looking down the end of a telescope and seeing a potential end. It brings me more joy when I sing the songs because it might be the last time. I've always tried to sing as though I'm singing a song for the first time, now I sing it as though I'm singing the song for what might be the last time."

Admitting that life on the road isn't quite as easy to cope with physically as it was in his youth, Daltrey also laughingly pointed out that while he does feel 71, "If I shut my eyes, I'm 21. I try and avoid the mirror."

All of which adds up to a lengthy series of dates during which Daltrey says he's enjoying engaging with the audience while truly appreciating how far the Who have come over the past five decades. "Obviously, I hope I'm wiser. I hope I'm less arrogant. Of course, you feel different, but life is a joy," mused Daltrey. "I'm very aware that I've had a life of privilege thanks to the music business and the support of our audience. I'm very aware of that."

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