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The Who are one of the greatest rock bands of all time and one of the Big Three of the British Invasion along with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. They provided a huge impact on the history and development of music. Their wild style was greatly influential on metal, punk, and grunge. They were noted for their film Tommy, the first "rock opera". The soundtrack includes performances by Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, and Elton John. They have been phenomenally successful to this date despite losing Keith Moon and John Entwistle. Seven of their albums have been certified. They have had numerous hit singles. Some of their work was selected for preservation in the United States' National Recording Registry. The Who were inducted their first year of eligibility. They performed the 2010 Super Bowl halftime show. They performed at the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair of 1969 and the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967. Several of their songs were supposed to be used in a followup project to Tommy known as Lifehouse, but it was canceled. A compilation was released decades later. In the seventies The Who began adopting a more progressive rock style, using a sound more associated with bands like Rush, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, or Journey. In the eighties they experimented with the new synth-oriented sounds with Eminence Front, going the same direction as prog band Genesis had. Member Pete Townshend had a successful solo career. Their debut album was preserved in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress. Boris the Spider features what is considered to be the original "death growl", helping to pioneer death metal. They were noted for destroying their instruments at concerts, an influence they had on punk and metal. Member Pete Townshend would found Thunderclap Newman, noted for their hit Something in the Air. The song Won't Get Fooled Again was used in the roleplaying game EarthBound. The song Magic Bus uses the clavé sound popularized by Bo Diddley. They were inducted by Bono of U2. Arthur Brown of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appears in Tommy.

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