In conjunction with the National Cancer Survivors Month campaign this month, The Who‘s Roger Daltrey recently took part in a Zoom chat with young folk-pop singer/songwriter Harry Hudson, a lymphoma survivor who’s good friends with media personality Kylie Jenner. The 17-minute clip has been posted at the official YouTube channel of Teen Cancer America, the charity Daltrey co-founded in 2012 with his Who band mate Pete Townshend.

Daltrey and Hudson discussed various of topics, including Teen Cancer America’s work funding hospital recreational units geared toward teenagers and young adults, and the unique challenges young people with the disease face.

“[W]ithout this age group, we wouldn’t have the music business we have now,” Roger notes, regarding what inspired him to want to help young cancer patients. “Everybody in the music business owes it to adolescents and young adults, because that’s the foundations of our industry. If they’re not there for us, we’ve got nothing, so we’ve got to be there for them.”

Daltrey also maintains that, when you consider how much money is raised for cancer research, the units are relatively inexpensive to fund. The 76-year-old rock legend says he feels cancer charities should consider giving a portion of their funding to Teen Cancer America, because TCA brings together patients in an age group that previously hadn’t been available to study.

Hudson, meanwhile, discussed how his friendship with Jenner led her to help fund a TCA hospital unit at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University.

“[S]he was at a lot of my [chemotherapy treatments],” the 28-year-old musician points out. “[S]o she kind of experienced firsthand what it’s like…to have someone go through it, someone close. So she was like, ‘I want to give back as much as I can.'”

By Matt Friedlander
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