In May 1969, with the Who on the brink of bankruptcy, Pete Townshend decided to risk it all with an extremely ambitious project -- arguably the most ambitious undertaking in rock to that point -- a 4-sided rock opera about a sight and hearing-impaired young man named Tommy who becomes a kind of messiah figure. The album became a true sensation, especially after The Who performed it at Woodstock. It would end being adapted into a movie, a stage musical, and even a ballet by a Montreal dance troupe. And it would influence the course of rock that followed.