Sir Paul McCartney congratulates Roger Daltrey for Teenage Cancer Trust shows

In recent years, Roger Daltrey has become a “divisive figure”. Yes, he’s been bullish and belligerent in his misguided support of Brexit, but he’s impossible not to love. Not least because, over 24 years, he’s been the ringleader, curator and driving force behind the annual Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust shows, performing more than any other act – both solo and with The Who – and helping to raise £32m for specialised NHS units to care for young sufferers.

Tonight, before standing down from this selfless role for good, Daltrey performs one final show, Ovation, joined by a selection of artists he’s cajoled into playing over the years. “This ovation is for all the unsung heroes, all the people that have been there unconditionally,” he says, taking to a “bloody death trap” of a stage as he introduces the night. Besides the rank of teenage sufferers and survivors who make several moving appearances, though, most of the accolades shower down upon the main man himself. For all four hours of the show, the evening’s stars reminisce about Daltrey’s influence and gruff magnanimity while, in pre-filmed messages, Paul McCartney plays him a four-second song called “Thank You Roger” and Steve Coogan declares him “a good bloke” – and The Who “The Kinks for welders”.

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