<i>Tommy II</i> In December

Rock 'n' roll history is about to be rewritten, reports CBS News Reporter Pamela McCall: The Who are releasing a follow-up to the rock opera Tommy.

It's being called "the Son of Tommy" -- a sequel to the rock opera mega-hit of the 1960s. The Who's Pete Townshend calls it Lifehouse. He's been secretly writing it for 28 years - but gave a sneak preview back in 1971.

The Independent newspaper's David Lister was at the performance - but thought Townshend had shelved the project after poor feedback."It's been the best guarded secret in rock music," he said.

Fans of the Who "won't get fooled again" -- eagerly awaiting the new rock opera airing on BBC radio 3 on Dec. 5.

Townshend, 54, said the new play with music was "the story of a vast global network" which he dubbed "The Grid."

"He was writing about something called the grid which is now clearly Pete Townshend foreseeing the Internet and the World Wide Web," Lister told CBS Radio News.

"It is extraordinary. He was almost hitting the nail on the head back in 1971," said Kate Rowland, head of radio drama at Radio 3.

"Lifehouseis an apocalyptic journey set across the industrial wastes of Britain on the last day of the millennium," the BBC said in a statement.

"The play addresses the spiritual consequences of a move away from physical human congregation to digital networking and the power of music."

Townshend said that at the end of the '60s, technology and rock had gone hand in hand.

"In the midst of all this uneasy anticipation, I wrote a play," he said.

"If, in the future, life itself ever had to be experienced through art - let's say because of a necessary curfew to avoid the effects of radiation or pollution - a vast global network would be required."

Lifehouse will feature many of Townshend's most memorable songs such as Won't Get Fooled Again, Baba O'Riley" and The Song is Over.