- In common with other British rock bands Genesis and Dire Straits, they have sold over 100 million records and released many hit singles but never had a number one in the UK Singles Chart.
- Robbie Williams' song "Old Before I Die" [UK release: 14th of April, 1997] was written in response to The Who's "My Generation" [UK release: 29th of October, 1965] which include the lyrics "I hope I die before I get old.".
- The Who were honored by the Vh1 Rock Honors in 2008 at the the Pauley Pavilion at UCLA. The concert consisted of an hour-long performance by the band as well as tributes by Incubus, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Adam Sandler and Tenacious D. An edited television broadcast of the show was aired on July 17, 2008. It included commentary from other musicians, celebrities, and The Who itself describing the band's career and impact. It is also the first program in the series to pay tribute to only one artist. Presenters included David Duchovny, Sean Penn, Rainn Wilson, Mila Kunis and Adam Sandler, who performed his own version of "Magic Bus".
- The group was banned from staying at all Holiday Inn hotels following a very rowdy birthday party for drummer Keith Moon, which culminated with a Cadillac convertible being driven into the hotel's swimming pool.
- Even though the band's albums were highly successful, none of them reached #1 on the Billboard charts. In fact, the highest any of their albums got was #2 and they achieved that feat twice with the albums "Quadrophenia" in 1973 and "Who Are You" in 1978. Also, the band never had a single that went to #1 on the charts and only top ten hit was "I Can See For Miles", which made it as high as #9 in 1967.
- Ranked #9 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll and #8 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Artists.
- They are the only band to have performed at Monterey Pop (1968), Woodstock (1970) and Live Aid (1985).
- The Who won the British Phonographic Industry Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1988 and were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture in 2005. The Who were voted the 29th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 (the same year as their contemporaries The Kinks).
- The band are credited with helping to popularize the Concept Album and Rock Opera genre with albums such as "Tommy" [UK release: 23rd of May, 1969] and "Quadrophenia" [UK release: 26th of October, 1973] which are two of the most successful and influential albums in rock history. Both were made into films: Tommy (1975) and Quadrophenia (1979). N.B. A double-album film Soundtrack of the same name [Quadrophenia] was released on the 5th of October, 1979 to coincide with the release of the 1979 film.
- [March 2003] The Who's 1969 album "Tommy" came third in Classic Rock Magazine's list of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time.
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