The 79-year-old lead vocalist of The Who would rather take his own life than undergo medical treatment and become a 'burden' if he has a terminal illness.
- Jan 12, 2024
AceShowbiz - Roger Daltrey has considered joining Dignitas and would rather die than have treatment if he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The Who frontman insists he isn't currently ill but at the age of 79, mortality has been on his mind and if he felt he was becoming a "burden" to his loved ones, he'd take steps to end his life.
"I think she is incredibly brave to raise the subject and I'm kind of there too, so I have thought about it," he told The Times newspaper after Dame Esther Rantzen - who has stage 4 lung cancer - revealed she has joined assisted dying organisation Dignitas.
Asked if he is ill, he said, "No, but if I became a burden on everyone I'd consider it. A good friend of mine, a lovely woodsman called Tom, he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer. If I had stage 4 pancreatic cancer I wouldn't have chemo. I'd take the morphine and go down."
The "My Generation" hitmaker contracted viral meningitis while touring the US in 2015 and admitted he saw the "exit sign" at the time, and after evaluating his life, insisted he is "ready to go." He said, "I didn't think I was coming back and I thought about my life."
"My dreams came true so, listen, I'm ready to go at any time. My family are all great and all taken care of. You've got to be realistic. You can't live your life for ever. Like I said, people my age, we're in the way. There are no guitar strings to be changed on this old instrument."
And Roger thinks the death of his generation can only benefit society. He said, "Actually, being around these young people today I do ask myself, 'What am I still doing here?' I'm in the way. All us old farts, we really are just in the way of the young now, aren't we?"
After meeting 20-year-old Elina Dodds, who was diagnosed with stage 4 Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone or soft tissue cancer, following a private PRI, the "Baba O'Riley" star added, "That poor young woman couldn't get a scan [on the NHS]? That's our wonderful NHS for you. And like I said, it's partly because all these old farts like me are in the way, isn't it? Let's just die! Get me and my lot out the way. It's crazy."
Roger doesn't believe scientists will ever find a cure for cancer - because it would put them out of a job. He said, "I don't think they'll ever find a cure for cancer. I don't think they want to find a cure. I'm being cynical here, but scientists look after the science but they also look after themselves."
"You do imagine if they did find a cure tomorrow it would be fabulous for the country, but there'd be an awful lot of scientists out of work. You might think I'm being cynical, but I do think that. It's just human nature, isn't it? You're not going to invent something that's going to put you out of work."
