Pete Townshend and Rachel Fuller sat down for a conversation about their new musical and literary collaboration, The Seeker, with author Dylan Jones at Foyles bookstore on Charing Cross Road in London on 30th October, 2024. After their chat, Pete and Rachel signed illustrated books of The Seeker for those who attended the event.
The Seeker is a musical reinvention of Herrman Hesse’s classic novel Siddhartha, which follows the quest of the young Siddhartha as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery and enlightenment during the time of the Gautama Buddha. Pete appears in the role of the Ferryman, who acts as a mentor to Siddhartha.
The story of Siddhartha has been retold by Pete’s wife, Rachel, who has put together a wonderful set of songs that will be released as a double album and accompanied by a beautiful graphic novel of the story. The album and book will be released next week on 7th November, and are available now for presale at theseekermusic.com.
The album was recorded at Angel Studios in London, and features a fantastic lineup of artists, including narration by the late Christopher Plummer, and performances from Pete Townshend, Sir Elton John, Nakhane, Emeli Sandé, Layton Williams, Sunidhi Chauhan and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
A video for the first single and title track, The Seeker, was released last week on 25th October. It depicts the Ferryman and Siddhartha out on a boat, and features a lovely duet between Pete and Nakhane in this interesting orchestral remake of The Who’s 1970 classic single. Some of the lyrics were changed to fit in with the story.
There is a new podcast series called The Seekers with Rachel Fuller, which includes conversations between Rachel and the artists who appear on the album, who chat about their own spiritual exploration. The first podcast is with Pete Townshend, which was released on 24th October. It’s an excellent interview, which is available to listen to here.
Pete and Rachel will also be guests on the Rockonteurs podcast with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt this Sunday. Tune in for that at rockonteurs.com.
To promote the album’s release next week, Pete will perform at the world premiere performance of The Seeker that will take place on 6th November at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Joining Pete at this special one night only event will be Alfie Boe (who starred in Classic Quadrophenia), Sunidhi Chauhan, Layton Williams, and Nakhane as Siddhartha. Also performing will be the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Choir of London, conducted by Robert Ziegler. The show will be narrated by a recording of Christopher Plummer.
Tickets for the show are on sale now at https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/the-seeker. It will be a special evening of music, so you don’t want to miss it!
Many thanks to everyone who contributed all the great photos and videos from the Foyles event!
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Official video of The Seeker
Podcast interview with Pete and Rachel
Rockonteurs podcast.
Video credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Video credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Dan DiCarlo
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Melissa and Gary Hurley
Photo credit: Derick Bhupsingh
Photo credit: Derick Bhupsingh