He was the calm eye of the storm amidst the swirling chaos that was The Who—one of the bands that helped open my ears to the possibility that rock music wasn't all as mindless and soul-destroying as I was told in church, and my mind to the possibility that my church was wrong about other things. John Entwhistle was a world-class bass player, and a very fine songwriter. In fact, he penned one of my very favorite Who tunes, "My Wife."

RIP.