John Entwistle

John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals. Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990. Renowned for his musical abilities, Entwistle's instrumental approach used pentatonic lead lines and a then-unusual treble-rich sound ("full treble, full volume"). He was voted as the greatest bassist ever in a 2011 Rolling Stone readers' poll and, in 2020, the same magazine ranked him number three in its own list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time. Early life John Alec Entwistle was born on 9 October 1944 in Chiswick, which is now part of London. He was an only child. His father, Herbert, who died in 2003, played the trumpet and his mother, Maud (née Lee) (29 November 1922 – 4 March 2011), played the piano. His parents' marriage failed soon after he was born, and he was mostly raised by his mother at his grandparents' house in South Acton. Divorce was uncommon in the 1940s, and this contributed to Entwistle becoming reserved and socialising little. His musical career began at age 7, when he started taking piano lessons. He did not enjoy the experience and after joining Acton County Grammar School aged 11, switched to the trumpet, moving to the French horn when he joined the Middlesex Schools Symphony Orchestra. He met Pete Townshend in the second year of school, and the two formed a trad jazz band, the Confederates. The group only played one gig together, before they decided that rock and roll was a more attractive prospect. Entwistle, in particular, was having difficulty hearing his trumpet with rock bands, and decided to switch to playing guitar, but due to his large fingers, and also his fondness for the low guitar tones of Duane Eddy, he decided to take up the bass instead. He made his own instrument at home, and soon attracted the attention of Roger Daltrey, who had been in the year above Entwistle at Acton County, but had been expelled and was working as an electrician's mate. Daltrey was aware of Entwistle from school, and asked him to join as a bassist for his band, the Detours.