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British rock legend Pete Townshend is back on the road again, making his way through a 17-date North American tour with Roger Daltrey. Touring life at age 80 can have its lonely moments, Townshend admitted, but it’s still an honor to play and a blessing to be alive.

“I’m on the road with Roger,” Townshend told Rolling Stone. “It can be lonely, to tell you the truth. I’ve thought: ‘Well, this is my job. I’m happy to have the work, but I prefer to be doing something else.’ Then, I think: ‘Well, I’m 80 years old. Why shouldn’t I revel in it? Why shouldn’t I celebrate?”

The Who guitarist went on to say that he appreciates the time with his longtime friend more than ever, but, at the same time, admits there’s some fatigue. “It is very, very tiring,” he said. “And we have to juggle this with our families and our personal lives. On one hand, it feels like we’re an institution, and on the other han,,d we’re playing around with songs to see which ones work.”

Decades after the Who first emerged onto the music scene, the Who is now a brand far more significant than its musicians. “It’s a brand rather than a band,” Townshend continued. “Roger and I have a duty to the music and the history. The Who [still] sells records — the Moon and Entwistle families have become millionaires. There’s also something more, really: the art, the creative work, is when we perform it. We’re celebrating. We’re a Who tribute band.”

Touring life has many challenges, but Townshend said it also “whets an appetite” when he contemplates “bowing out” of the music business in more personal terms. “It makes me think about what we should bow out in our personal lives — what we do with our families and our friends and everything else at this age,” he added. “We’re lucky to be alive. I’m looking forward to playing. Roger likes to throw wild cards out sometimes in the set, and we have learned and rehearsed a few songs that we don’t always play.”

Roger Daltrey on Health, Tourin,g and What’s Next

Co-founder Roger Daltrey expressed similar thoughts in a recent interview with The Times. As the band gears up for a final tour, he and Townshend are both reflective and uncertain about what might lie ahead. “We talk about it a lot,” Daltrey said of life after The Who. “We don’t talk about it as a decision we’re going to make. We just talk about it philosophically.”

It’s been more than five decades since The Who first made waves with hits like “My Generation” and “Substitute.” Daltrey says that he and Townshend are as excited about their new tour as ever, but that it’s also time to move on. “The more we talk about it,” Daltrey said, “the more it looks like this is the end.”

Fans who follow the band are left to wonder if there will ever be another show, while Daltrey himself isn’t certain yet. “As to whether we’ll play [one-off] concerts again, I don’t know. The Who to me is very perplexing,” he said. “We haven’t worked it all out.”

At 80 years old, Daltrey admits the “grueling” nature of touring is not getting any easier. “It was never easy to sing Who songs for three hours a night, six nights a week. I was working harder than most footballers,” he said. While he is happy with the current setlist and stage shows, a definitive end may be the best course of action.

Daltrey did, however, give fans an update on his health during a recent performance with Townshend at the Teenage Cancer Trust charity event in London. As the pair took the stage, Daltrey addressed the crowd about his vocal health and the long career behind him. “Fortunately, I still have my voice, because then I’ll have a full Tommy,” he said, referring to the title character from The Who’s famous 1969 rock opera. Daltrey then quoted the well-known lyric, making a joke at his own expense. “Deaf, dumb, and blind kid.”

For fans across North America, these 17 dates may be the last chance to see the legendary pair in the flesh, playing hits from their extensive discography, and contemplating their long career together as rock stars. For the musicians themselves, it will be both a “celebration” and a “farewell” as they take the final curtain call and assess what’s left.