The Who part ways with drummer Zak Starkey after three decades
"They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future," band's rep says
By Andy Greene
The Who have parted ways with drummer Zak Starkey just three weeks after they played a pair of shows with him at London’s Royal Albert Hall, Rolling Stone has confirmed. He has performed with them at practically every concert they’re played since he joined the band in 1996, and he appears on 2006’s Endless Wire and 2019’s Who.
“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” a representative for the band says in a statement. “They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”
It’s unclear what exactly precipitated the firing, but Roger Daltrey was reportedly unhappy with his performance at the Royal Albert Hall shows. When the band attempted to play the Who’s Next deep cut ‘The Song Is Over’ for the first time in their history, Daltrey stopped the song after just one verse and vented some frustrations.
“To sing that song, I do need to hear the key, and I can’t,” he said. “All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry, guys.”
Starkey has yet to officially confirm the news himself, but he did post a photo of himself with Daltrey earlier this week on Instagram paired with a snarky caption: “Heard today from inside source within whose horses nose that toger daktrey [sic] lead singer and principal songwriter of the group unhappy with zak the drummer’s performance at the albert hall a few weeks ago is bringing formal charges of overplaying and is literally going to zak the drummer.”
Starkey is the oldest child of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and grew up around original Who drummer Keith Moon. “Keith was like an uncle, really,” Starkey told Modern Drummer in 2006. “He was one of my dad’s best friends. When my brother, sister, and I used to stay with my dad there, we would occasionally spend a few days at Keith’s house. Keith was the babysitter. We would just hang out and talk about anything, really – girls, surfing, bands, drums. He was a really fantastic guy to hang out with.”
Starkey originally came into the Who’s orbit in 1995 when Daltrey brought him on the road for a solo tour. The following year, he joined the Who when they reformed for a tour playing Quadrophenia in its entirety. He missed a handful of gigs over the years due to injury or outside commitments, but was behind the kind for virtually every show. He also had the longest tenure in the band of any drummer in their history.