The Who are a British rock band that first came to prominence in the 1960s. The band grew in stature to become one of the most highly-regarded and popular artists of the 1970s and - after periods of retirement from 1983 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1995 - has continued to perform as a live act sporadically but with undiminished popularity.

They are generally regarded as one of the greatest live rock and roll bands of all time. Noted for the dynamism of their live performances and for their thoughtful and art-influenced music, they are also acknowledged as having been rock pioneers, popularizing among other things the power chord and the rock opera (most notably Tommy) under the leadership of Pete Townshend. Their earlier "mod" albums, which boasted short, aggressive pop songs, Pete Townshend's distinctive power chords, and constant themes of youthful rebellion and romantic confusion, were formative influences on punk rock and power pop. In their early days they were notorious for Auto-destructive art displays, destroying their instruments at the end of shows (especially Townshend, whose guitar-smashing would become a rock cliché, and infamous wildman Keith Moon).