Veteran rocker Pete Townshend claims his band The Who “invented stadium rock” but says they gave it away to other artists such as Queen, U2 and Bruce Springsteen to reap the rich rewards.

And Townsend, 79, believes they blew their chance of global dominance by not being ready to perform when they took to the Wembley stage in 1985 for a prime-time early evening slot at Live Aid.

Townsend said: “I handed the stadium stage to Queen and U2, and of course to Bruce Springsteen. That wasn’t a…