The Who’s Pete Townshend Writing Memoir

The Who’s guitarist and songwriter, known for such classics as “My Generation,” “I Can See for Miles” and the Tommy rock opera, is writing his autobiography. HarperCollins announced Tuesday that the book, currently untitled, would come out in the fall of 2012.

Townshend, who turns 66 on Thursday, has long been of rock’s most introspective and self-consciously literary artists. In a statement issued through his publisher, he said the book was “not a vanity for me,” but an “essential rite of passage.”