The Who and friends to play special show in LA

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It's tough being a rock star.

Roger Daltrey, vocalist for the Who, is taking a break from doing "delightfully nothing" for the past year to reunite with bandmate Pete Townshend for a concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The British rock veterans will be feted at cable channel VH1's third annual "VH1 Rock Honors," which will be taped at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and will air next Thursday.

Rock bands such as Pearl Jam, the Foo Fighters and the Flaming Lips will cover Who songs, then the guests of honor will close the event with a 45-minute performance.

"I'm a huge fan of (Foo Fighters frontman) Dave Grohl," Daltrey told Reuters during an interview at his hotel on Thursday. "He's got the mentality of a rock god."

Daltrey, 64, and Townshend, 63, the Who's songwriter and guitarist, are the band's only surviving original members. Bassist Pino Palladino is standing in for John Entwistle, who died of a drug-related heart attack in 2002, while Zak Starkey -- son of Ringo Starr -- is the latest replacement for drummer Keith Moon, who overdosed on pills in 1978.

After the VH1 show, Daltrey will resume his leisurely ways until November, when the Who launches a four-date tour of Japan, only its second visit to that country.

SOLO PROJECTS  Continued...