'Pete gave me some advice, Stop trying to make it rhyme'

Opera singer beat writer's block thanks to Who star Townshend

- BY TOM BRYANT

CLASSICAL star Alfie Boe has revealed Who helped to inspire his latest album — rock legend Pete Townshend.

The operatic tenor, 52, said The Who guitarist helped him as he struggled to write his first album of original songs in 20 years.

Pete, 80, offered some sage advice: “Stop trying to make it rhyme.”

Alfie told us: “Weirdly, the guy that taught me songwriting was Pete Townshend. I tried writing with Pete and it was like find a chorus.

“What rhymes with this, what rhymes with that?’.

“And he said, ‘Don’t try to rhyme. Don’t even try and write a chorus or a verse, just write thoughts.’

“He called it free writing. And I did. I just started it. And the minute I started, I couldn’t stop and I was sending him banks and banks of lines that were just coming to my head and storyboards and words that create images and journeys.

“And it was cathartic, it felt like I was releasing something inside me that I'd been suppressing.” Music bosses previously vetoed his desire to pen his own songs as they couldn’t see past his opera stardom, success in musicals and stellar partnership with Michael Ball.