Pete Townshend walks out on Howard Stern

The Who's Pete Townshend stormed out of a London studio on Wednesday (October 25th), while waiting to be interviewed by phone on Howard Stern's Sirius satellite radio show.

The Associated Press reported that while Townshend, his girlfriend Rachel Fuller, and his bandmate Roger Daltrey waited for his guest spot, the three listened to the Stern crew's banter. When talk turned to his 2003 child pornography arrest, his 1989 comments alluding to gay affairs, and Fuller's recent musical collaborations with him, Townshend became increasingly incensed. Reportedly, when Stern referred to Fuller's participation by remarking, "Uh-oh Yoko (Ono)," Townshend decided to bolt from the interview.

Daltrey, however, stuck it out and defended Townshend, explaining to Stern that, "Can you imagine you're accused of this stuff and then you're found not guilty? If you had to defend yourself through this stuff? The wounds are so deep on the man, and it's just tragic because he's got so much to offer."

Stern offered his apologies to Townshend saying, "Tell Pete I am very sorry. We would have had a great interview with him. I really wish he'd reconsider this. We adore him." Later that night, Townshend posted a diary entry on his petetownshend.co.uk site under the subject "Howard," which merely said, "Let's have lunch."

Townshend had backed out of an appearance on Stern's radio show once before, back in 1993.

Townshend had hoped to promote the Who's upcoming album Endless Wire on the Stern show, rather than discuss the tabloid-esque problems of past years.

The new album, which will be released on Tuesday (October 31st), features the acoustic song "The Man In The Purple Dress," which has been a standout tune during the band's recent shows. Townshend told us that the song is one of defiance against the hypocrisy of authority figures: "'The Man In The Purple Dress,' it's a song of rage and protest at being judged by people in authority. I play the guitar and Roger sings."

Endless Wire, the Who's first new studio album in 24 years, features a song titled "You Stand By Me," which Townshend wrote about Daltrey and Fuller's unwavering support of him during the child porn scandal, in which he was cleared of all charges.

The Who kick off their next set of U.S. dates on November 4th, at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl.