Pete's Warning

The Who's Pete Townshend, 60, is setting the record straight--and issuing a warning to music fans.

Townshend's hearing loss is well documented. He has a constant, agonizing ringing in his ears and has since the 1970s. But he maintains that hearing loss was due to the use of headphones in the studio, not his wild windmill playing. And he's warning music lovers that they should be cautious when using headphones, especially as portable player use is at an all-time high and rising.

"I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf," Townshend wrote on his website. "My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead."

(Shumakes Note: SIXTY? He's only 60? And while we're on the subject, Tom Jones is only 65? Did these men start recording when they were 8?)