The Who's patron charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT), will go virtual this year after its legendary string of annual Royal Albert Hall concerts were shut down due to the ongoing pandemic. Among the performers donating clips to the online charity series running free of charge on on YouTube, and titled Teenage Cancer Trust – Unseen, are Paul McCartney, the Who, the Cure, Noel Gallagher, Pulp, Them Crooked Vultures, Muse, and Ed Sheeran. Viewers are urged to watch and donate to TCT.
Rolling Stone reported, "Each stream will air at 3:00 p.m. ET, kicking off with Ed Sheeran on Thursday, October 8th, followed by Muse (October 9th), Paul McCartney (October 11th), Pulp (October 14th), Noel Gallagher (October 15th), Them Crooked Vultures (October 16th), the Who (October 17th), and the Cure (October 18th). A second Cure livestream will also air, with more details to be announced."
Roger Daltrey issued a statement regarding the TCT online fundraising series:
So here we are, six months into one of the strangest times in living memory, where everyone has had some sense of what isolation, even for short periods, can do to the state of our mental health. Without the environment and services that Teenage Cancer Trust provides within our NHS, specifically for this age group, isolation throughout their lengthy treatments becomes a strong possibility.
Through Teenage Cancer Trust, the U.K. has led the world in recognizing the specific issues that this age group with cancer suffer. Please donate generously to make sure this vital work continues through these difficult times.
I know things are really tight for everyone at the moment; our whole business is out of work. If you’re watching this on YouTube, understand this is there for a function — to raise money for a charity — the charity is desperately in need of the money to keep its services going. So, if you can donate even the price of a coffee, anything, it will really help.
I’m sure the audiences for these artists will be very high and if all of you just put $10 in that would be a huge amount of money to get us through this year. Because we want to be there for you in case you ever need us or your family ever needs us. Don’t let this virus destroy it.
Over the past two decades, Roger Daltrey has worked tirelessly to raise money and awareness for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Daltrey told us he's doing all he can to socialize teen cancer patients, who respond far better to being with others their own age during treatment than being stuck on a kids' ward, or with full-grown adults: ["I went to Yale when we first started this off. In Yale there were three boys that had Leukemia and they were all in three different rooms, and not one of them knew that the next boy next to them had the same disease, was sittin’ with his parents, all worried to death. Not one of them met each other and none of the parents had met each other. I mean, I just think that’s criminal."] SOUNDCUE (:22 OC: . . . think that’s criminal)
Roger Daltrey On Teens With Cancer :