Pete Townshend's out of jail, but he still may have to face the music regarding his interest in kiddie porn.
The Who leader was released on bail Tuesday, a day after his arrest on suspicion of making and possessing indecent images of children and incitement to distribute indecent images of children.
Authorities detained Townshend on Monday evening at a southwest London police station, where investigators questioned the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer for nearly an hour and a half before finally releasing him after midnight.
Townshend, 57, was released on written condition that he appear at another inquiry later in the month.
The rocker left the police station looking haggard and immediately hopped in the back seat of a Mercedes where he laid low to avoid the popping flashbulbs of the paparazzi.
Townshend's attorney, John Cohen, briefed reporters from the steps of the station.
"Mr Townshend has been interviewed by police," Cohen said. "He has not been charged with anything and has been bailed to a future date when he may be required to answer some questions.
"He is going home to get some rest. He is tired but all right."
Under British law, authorities can detain suspects for questioning without charging them with a crime.
On Monday afternoon, detectives executed a search warrant at the musician's suburban London residence, where, after four hours of snooping around, they confiscated his computers. The police plan on inspecting the hard drives before calling Townshend back for a follow-up interrogation.
Townshend has admitted that he once used a credit card to gain access to a child-pornography Website, but said he never downloaded any images from the site.
In a statement issued Saturday, Townshend said he went to the site to help research an autobiography he's writing. The rocker claims he was abused by his mentally ill grandmother, an experience he says informed the Who's classic 1969 rock opera Tommy.
He also adamantly denied being a pedophile and said he has frequently criticized the availability of child pornography on the Net.
An essay written by Townshend about Web-based child porn was posted Tuesday on The Smoking Gun. In the six-page treatise, Townshend describes the horror of images he stumbled upon while online and the ease of finding such pictures.
"I assure everyone reading this that if they go off in pursuit of images of pedophiliac rape they will find them. I urge them not to try. I pray too that they don't happen upon such images as did I, by accident. If they do they may like me become so enraged and disturbed that their dreams are forever haunted."
So far, Townshend has had several high-profile defenders, including his Who bandmate Roger Daltrey and model-actress Jerry Hall, who said Townshend once advised her on how to protect her own kids from the dangers of Internet porn.
And speaking backstage at last night's American Music Awards, Elton John told reporters that he was "very shocked" about the allegations.
"I hope it's not as bad as it sounds," John said. "I'm a friend of Pete's. I love Pete, and my thoughts are with him."