Rock legends The Who invite 12-year-old blind fan to hang out

Josey Murayda-Pelillo sang The Who song quietly with her mother, Lucy Murayda, backstage at Sunday night’s show.

They hugged tightly on a couch, their cheeks pressed together, their words in sync, their minds racing, trying to stay cool after their world had been turned upside down.

Was this real? Did Roger Daltrey, The Who’s lead singer, really ask to see them? Was Pete Townshend, the band’s songwriter and guitarist, truly on his way, to a room so private it seemed miles from the 10,000 fans above in the Verizon Wireless Arena?

Daltrey is smaller than you might think, but his heart is huge. He dedicated this show to Josey, a 12-year-old girl, blind since birth, who sings like a bird and charges forward in snow like George Patton.

That’s what Daltrey saw

See WHO – A7

Josey Murayda-Pelillo of Concord poses for a photo with Roger Daltrey, singer of The Who, in Manchester on Sunday.

RAY DUCKLER / Monitor staff