The see-saw story of The Who‘s drummer chair continued to tilt over the weekend when former, then current and then former again time keeper Zak Starkey clarified that he had not been fired from the band but rather “retired.”
The 59-year-old son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and in-demand session player wrote in an Instagram post on Monday (May 26) that he’d had a nice chat with singer Roger Daltrey clarifying what appeared to be his recent second sacking in as many months. “NOISE&CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!! Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work n my own projects,” Starkey wrote.
“I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ) I was completely available for the foreseeable future,” Starkey continued. “Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there- On good terms and great friends as we have always been . Gotta love these guys. As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’”
It’s been a wild ride lately for Starkey, who has worked with everyone from Oasis to Johnny Marr, the Icicle Works and his dad’s All-Starr Band over years in addition to recording sessions with dozens of other rock and reggae acts.
Ahead of their upcoming farewell tour, guitarist Pete Townshend announced last month that “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best. Scott Devours who has worked with Roger’s solo band will join The Who for our Final shows. Please welcome him.” The firing after a nearly 30-year run appeared to surprise Starkey, after reports that Daltrey was not happy with the drummer’s performance at a March Royal Albert Hall gig, complaining from stage that Starkey’s loud playing was throwing him off.
Starkey was then seemingly re-hired just days after Townshend’s original announcement, after what the guitarist and songwriter described as “communication issues,” only to be re-fired on May 18. “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endevours this would be a lie. I love the who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement,” Starkey wrote after the second firing. “Quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox x.”
The Who will kick off the U.S. leg of their farewell tour on August 16 at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, FL.
