Eighteen months ago, Roger Daltrey faced the end of his career.

The Who frontman, one of rock's greatest singers, found he had a pre-cancerous growth on this throat.

He was told if it wasn't treated in time he might never sing again.

"It was like a wake-up call on life," he says, reflecting on when he was told the news, just before Christmas in 2009.

"We take so many gifts we have for granted and suddenly, when you're about to lose it, you're like 'Whoa'. When you get the all-clear, you think I'm going to enjoy this now-

"I'm enjoying singing more than ever, because WI thought I'd never sing again. I'm just enjoying life."

Thankfully, the surgery was a success, and Roger is fighting fit. The 67-year-old is feeling so good that he's bringing his own band to the Arma-dillo, for a special perform-ance of the Who's ground-breaking 1969 classic rock-opera Tommy, the tale of the deaf, dumb and blind kid who can play a mean pinball.

Roger, however, is quick to stress this solo jaunt does not mark the end of The Who, the band he formed back in 1964.

"I've only ever wanted to be the singer in The Who, not a solo act," he says. "But Pete's got his problems with his ear. I had problems with my voice, and we found a way around that – now we've got to deal with the volume, so he can play without making himself deaf."

So while guitarist Townshend deals with his tinnitus, Roger is returning to Tommy.

The complete musical will be performed next week, a feat even The Who never did. Aside from the vocal challenges, Roger's pleased to return to the record's roots, with a gig that will replicate the album's harmonies.

"The way I'm doing Tommy is truer to the original than The Who gigs," he says.

"We never played all of it as a live act, we never did all the harmonies that are on the album, which my band can do, and when you hear those sounds it's just a piece of music that deserves to be heard in that form."

He'll be assured of a warm reception in Glasgow, a city The Who have played many times.

"I've great memories of Glasgow and Scotland. Our first Scottish gig as The Who was in Greenock at a working man's club, and by God it was rough there!

"But they were a great crowd. Even before then, we'd been at the Kelvin Hall as the High Numbers, and it was Lulu's birthday! It was 1964, it was amazing.

"There was the wonderful Green's Playhouse [later the Apollo], too, what a magical place.

"I remember being there in 1970 or 71, and it looked dangerous, and that was from the front of the stage. There was a three-foot bounce on the balconies, it looked like!"

Both band and fans are older now, of course, but Roger reckons Wednesday's gig, which will feature a selection of other Who classics too, will be a belter. He believes his voice can still stand up to the rigours of Tommy, too.

"It's a tough piece of singing, but I've started using a new monitor. The problem I've had for years was hearing myself above the racket.

"And when you can't hear yourself, you tend to over-sing, which caused the damage in the first place, but now I can hear every squeak, and it's much easier.

You're not killing yourself, which is good, because I'm fed up killing myself – I've done that enough times onstage."

Roger may have struggled to hear his own voice, but it didn't stop him developing one of music's most famous howls.

It's something modern music lacks, he says, though Adele and Florence [and the Machine] are "wonderful" to a music legend who says he is "indifferent" rather than critical of The X Factor.

" I don't think they've ever chosen a real winner, vocally.

"I'm sure Mick Jagger would never have got past square one, I wouldn't have, or Robert Plant. But if you hear those voices, you know who it is.".

l Roger Daltrey, Wednesday July 6, Clyde Auditorium, £45, 7pm