The Who hoping to Be Lucky with new track

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who. Photo / Getty Images

The Who will release its first new song in eight years as the British rockers mark their 50th anniversary with a tour.

The band that wrote iconic songs I Can't Explain and My Generation and the concept album Tommy will include the new track on a greatest hits collection due out on November 3.

Be Lucky has been described as a "classic Who rocker" in a promotional statement.

The Who said that proceeds from Be Lucky will go to a cancer charity founded by band leaders Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend.

The new song was produced by Dave Eringa, best known for his work with the intellectually inclined alternative rockers Manic Street Preachers.

The Who is planning a tour of Britain and Ireland in November and December to mark 50 years since the band first released a single.

Its the first new work for The Who since 2006, when the band ended a more than two-decade drought in new material with the album Endless Wire.

- AFP