Despite the sudden death of bassist John Entwistle, the two surviving members of The Who decided Friday to resume their scheduled three-month U.S. tour.

        “The band decided to recommence the tour beginning at the Hollywood Bowl (a Monday night show),” according to a message posted on guitarist Pete Townshend's Web site. “News will be added as and when it becomes available.”

        It was unclear who might replace Mr. Entwistle, a co-founder of the band when he was a London teen. And there was no word on whether the band would play all the scheduled dates on the tour.

        The band's name will be the same, but it won't be the same Who.

        Whenever The Who took the stage, Roger Daltrey provided the sound and Mr. Townshend the fury. Off to the side, frozen except for the fingers flying across his fret board, stood “The Ox” — John Entwistle.

        Mr. Entwistle, a player of restraint in a band of excess, died Thursday of an apparent heart attack at a Las Vegas hotel — a sudden and shocking demise that put the band's summer tour and its future in doubt.

        Mr. Entwistle, who was on medication for a heart condition, was 57. Thirty-eight of those years were spent with The Who, the band he helped start in 1964 as a London teen.

        An autopsy was scheduled in Las Vegas to determine the exact cause of death.

        Mr. Entwistle was “probably the most influential bassist in rock music,” said rock critic Bruce Eder of the All Music Guide. Total Guitar magazine named him as bassist of the millennium in 2000, selecting Mr. Entwistle over contemporaries Paul McCartney of the Beatles, Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.

        “The quietest man in private but the loudest onstage,” Mr. Wyman said of his late friend. “He was unique and irreplaceable.”

        Mr. Wyman's words may prove prophetic.

        It was unclear if Mr. Entwistle's sudden death, one day before the band was to begin a three-month U.S. tour, would mean the end of the scheduled shows or The Who itself.

        A Las Vegas show Friday night was canceled, along with two California dates, according to TicketMaster.com. The next scheduled performance was Wednesday at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif.

        Clear Channel Entertainment confirmed the Saturday show in Irvine, Calif., was canceled. A company statement said it was awaiting “further direction from the band” about the rest of the dates.

        The only word from surviving band mates Mr. Townshend and Mr. Daltrey was a two-sentence statement on the guitarist's Web site: “The Ox has left the building — we've lost another great friend. Thanks for your support and love.”

        Karen Dunphy of suburban New York had tickets to see The Who at Jones Beach this summer, but she doesn't want to see the band without its longtime bassist.

        “I don't think so,” she said. “I have tickets, so I would go. But it's kind of different. He's not as key as Pete Townshend, but still . . . I don't think so.”

        The Who regrouped once before after the 1978 death of drummer Keith Moon, adding Kenney Jones before calling it quits four years later. But all three surviving members later expressed regrets about the decision to continue, saying the band had died along with Mr. Moon.

        Those feelings didn't prevent a 1989 reunion tour and several subsequent big-money regroupings, although those shows focused on old Who material. The band's last collection of new material was It's Hard in 1982.

        Mr. Entwistle had his own solo projects, and began a career as an artist; his works were set to travel to several cities on The Who's concert itinerary.

        If the band — which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 — never played again, its performance at the “Concert for New York” benefit for Sept. 11 victims would stand as testament to its enduring power.

        Before a roaring crowd at Madison Square Garden, The Who pulled out the Townshend anthems — “Won't Get Fooled Again,” “Baba O'Reilly” and “Who Are You” — that cemented their place in rock 'n' roll history.

        On a night where they shared the stage with rock royalty like Billy Joel, Elton John, Mr. McCartney, David Bowie and Mick Jagger, The Who dominated the show.

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