John Entwistle

Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers",[2] he was the band's only member with formal musical training and also provided backing and occasional lead vocals.

[11] He made his own instrument at home,[12] 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.

At this point the band consisted of Entwistle, Townshend and drummer Doug Sandom, a semi-professional player who was several years older than the others.

[14] When the band decided that the blond Daltrey needed to stand out more from the others, Entwistle dyed his naturally light brown hair black, and it remained so until the early 1980s.

Both Entwistle and Townshend had begun experimenting with feedback from the amplifiers in the mid-1960s, and Hendrix did not begin destroying his instruments until after he had witnessed the Who's "auto-destructive art".

"[18] This was a large part of the reason[citation needed] that he became the first member of the band to release a solo studio album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall (1971), which featured contributions from Keith Moon, Jerry Shirley of Humble Pie, Vivian Stanshall, Neil Innes and the Who's roadie, Dave "Cyrano" Langston.

[22] Entwistle also experimented throughout his career with 'Bi-amping', where the high and low ends of the bass are sent through separate signal paths, allowing for more control over the output.

At one point his rig became so loaded down with speaker cabinets and processing gear that it was dubbed "Little Manhattan", in reference to the towering, skyscraper-like stacks, racks and blinking lights.

"My Wife", Entwistle's driving, comedic song about marital strife from the band's fifth studio album Who's Next (1971), also became a popular stage number.

[2] In 1971, Entwistle became the first member of the band to release a solo studio album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall, which earned him a cult following in the US for fans of his brand of black humour.

[citation needed] Other solo studio albums included: Whistle Rymes (1972), Rigor Mortis Sets In (1973), Mad Dog (1975), Too Late the Hero (1981), and The Rock (1996).

The band was preoccupied with recording The Who by Numbers during the spring of 1975 and did not do any touring for most of the year, so Entwistle spent the summer performing solo concerts.

Towards the end of his career, he formed the John Entwistle Band with longtime friend, drummer Steve Luongo, and guitarist Mark Hitt, both formerly of Rat Race Choir.

This evolved into the John Entwistle Band, with Godfrey Townsend replacing Mark Hitt on guitar and joining harmony vocals.

Shortly before his death, Entwistle had agreed to play some US dates with the band including Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, following his final upcoming tour with the Who.

The show also featured Ann Wilson of Heart, Todd Rundgren, David Pack of Ambrosia, Godfrey Townsend, Steve Luongo and John Beck of It Bites.

Featuring Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton, Entwistle's style had evolved from simple line drawings and caricatures to a more lifelike representation of his subjects.

[25] He bought a large semi-detached home in Stanmore, London, filling it with all sorts of extraordinary artefacts, ranging from suits of armour to a tarantula.

His eccentricity and taste for the bizarre was to remain with him throughout his life, and when he finally moved out of the city in 1978, to Stow-on-the-Wold in Gloucestershire, his 17-bedroom Victorian manor, Quarwood, resembled a museum.

[28] Entwistle died in Room 658 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, on 27 June 2002, one day before the scheduled first show of the Who's 2002 United States tour.

[29][30] The Clark County medical examiner determined that his death was due to a heart attack induced by an undetermined amount of cocaine.

Entwistle's authorised biographer Paul Rees has suggested that a more detailed physical examination would have revealed that three of his arteries were blocked and necessitated surgery.

Long time friend and band mate Steve Luongo was invited by The Who and John's family to deliver the eulogy.

Entwistle's huge collection of guitars and basses was auctioned at Sotheby's in London by his son, Christopher, to meet anticipated taxes on his father's estate.

"[14] Entwistle's mansion, Quarwood, and some of his personal effects were later sold off to meet the demands of the Inland Revenue; he had worked for the agency from 1962 to 1963 as a tax officer before being demoted to filing clerk, prior to joining the Who.

[33] Welsh bassist Pino Palladino, who had previously played on several of Townshend's solo studio albums, took over for Entwistle onstage when the Who resumed their postponed US tour on 1 July 2002.

At the same time, Townshend noted that Entwistle provided the true rhythmic timekeeping in the band, while Keith Moon, with his flourishes around the kit, was more like a keyboardist.

Randy Bachman of Bachman–Turner Overdrive claimed that towards the end of his life, Entwistle mostly played by feeling the rush of air from his giant amp stacks.

[46] Entwistle identified his influences as a combination of his school training on French horn, trumpet, and piano (giving his fingers strength and dexterity).

Musicians who influenced him included rock and roll guitarist Duane Eddy,[47] and American soul and R&B bassists such as James Jamerson.