Talk:The Who

Wrong I formation

Your information about the rock group the Who is not right.

My cousins formed the original rock group called "The Who" in 1960. 2600:6C64:6AF0:8B20:252E:C727:2892:966F (talk) 13:20, 5 May 2024 (UTC)

yeah, and i thought of the iPhone before Steve Jobs--but here we are. ~2026-39058-59 (talk) 22:44, 9 July 2026 (UTC)

Katie Jacoby back in the touring band

As per Brian Kehew's blog (https://www.thewho.com/backstage-blog/thursday-28-august-2025-jones-beach-wantagh-ny/) Katie Jacoby has rejoined the touring musicians on violin -- I can't add her to the list of active touring musicians, but someone should! Opheliascarlet (talk) 16:17, 11 September 2025 (UTC)

The Who’s retiring?

They just did their last tour but I noticed the years duration is “1996-present” and I thought “aren’t they retiring?” since they just finished their final tour. Unless Daltrey and Townshend specifically said they only stopped touring but the band themselves will go on…..? RayKVega (talk) 18:12, 3 October 2025 (UTC)

This has come up again recently. Does anyone have any sources describing the situation one way or another? Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 22:45, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

The Who capitalization: An exception to MOS:THEBAND?

This article inconsistently capitalizes the band name the Who mid-sentence. I count 89 of the Who and 8 of The Who.

Following Wikipedia standard style, MOS:THEBAND (and referenced in WP:THENAME and MOS:THECAPS), the definite article at the beginning of a band's name should be lower-case style when used mid-sentence. So, per the style, the band would be referred to as the Who. When the definite article begins the title of an album or other artwork, it should be capitalized. Again, per the style, referring to the specific album, correctly it is The Who By Numbers. And, per MOS:SIC, if a direct quotation uses capitalization that is different from Wikipedia style, the original capitalization should be used. So, if that's the way it's written in a quoted reliable source, it should be "This author says this about The Who."

Archived discussions have asserted that The Who is an exception. However that exception hasn't been carried over to the manual of style. As a result, this article has drifted to an inconsistent use.

I think this problem should be fixed, and done so in one of two ways:

1. Implement an exception in MOS:THEBAND and then ensure that articles on the band consistently use that exception.
2. Correct articles on the band to consistently use the MOS:THEBAND standard as written.

I argue against a potential third option of asserting an exception for this band but not implementing that exception in MOS:THEBAND, as we will only be perpetuating the inconsistency (and debates about it) for years to come.

I note that an exception to the policy was debated about the Beatles in 2012, and received a great deal of input. Ultimately, the decision was that the Beatles should be consistent with what is in MOS:THEBAND.

Personally, I think The Who and the Who are equally understandable, and so I would lean towards a consistent policy rather than creating an exception.

Thoughts? Davidwbaker (talk) 19:33, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

The project-wide discussion in 2012 used the Beatles as a popular example, and the result of it was we established MOS:THEBAND for all bands. Before 2012, band pages were inconsistent.

Regarding setting an exception for the Who, the only discussion here was in 2020 which you can see at Talk:The_Who/Archive_4#The Who versus the Who.. Hardly anyone participated, the arguments for an exception were weak, and no consensus was formed. This page should have been following MOS:THEBAND ever since 2012.

Right after I hit "submit" on this post, I will comb through the page and return it to standard en.wiki style. It's not a big deal. Binksternet (talk) 22:09, 17 September 2026 (UTC)

In November 2025, these article moves were performed based on the assumption that The Who was correct and not MOS:THEBAND:

• List of the Who band members → List of The Who band members
• List of awards and nominations received by the Who → List of awards and nominations received by The Who

Oddly, the move discussion and subsequent move weren't mentioned here. Davidwbaker (talk) 03:31, 18 September 2026 (UTC)

I moved them back. The requested move discussion on one of them was closed without giving MOS considerations the appropriate greater weight. No discussion occurred at the other one. Binksternet (talk) 22:18, 18 September 2026 (UTC)

Thanks so much! I did some consistency cleanup. Davidwbaker (talk) 23:36, 18 September 2026 (UTC)