BEATLES MAGAZINE: ZAK STARKEY ISSUES FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT AFTER THE WHO FIRING

Friday, 18 April 2025

ZAK STARKEY ISSUES FIRST PUBLIC STATEMENT AFTER THE WHO FIRING

Zak Starkey followed in his father’s footsteps from an early age. Just 8 years old when he began teaching himself to play drums, Starkey, now 59, was performing in pubs four years later. In 1996, he joined another British rock phenomenon, The Who, and toured with them for nearly 30 years. However, Starkey’s three-decade stint with the band recently came to an abrupt end after two shows at the Royal Albert Hall. Zak is speaking out about the split.

Wednesday, April 15, news broke that The Who had axed longtime drummer Zak Starkey. Speaking to The Guardian, a representative said that founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend had made a “collective decision” with the rest of the band to fire Starkey.

The representative suggested that Starkey’s performance during last month’s Royal Albert Hall gig contributed to the split.
In a statement issued to Rolling Stone, Zak expressed remorse for his now-former bandmates’ decision.

“After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?” Starkey wrote. He added that he suffered from blood clots in his right bass drum calf in January, seeming to allude to that as a contributing factor to his firing.
“This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running,” Starkey wrote.

Back in March, Zak Starkey joined The Who onstage for the band’s annual performance series at London’s Royal Albert Hall. According to a review published in the Metro, a frustrated Roger Daltrey halted the show to complain that he couldn’t hear himself sing over the noise of Starkey’s playing.

When performing “The Song Is Over”, Daltrey insisted: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t,” the frontman said. “All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry, guys.’”

“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”

While the news came as a shock to many fans of The Who, Starkey hinted at the trouble surrounding the group when he posted a picture of himself and Daltrey on Instagram a few days ago. He captioned the post, writing, “Heard today from inside source 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 and bring on a reserve from ‘the burwash carwash skiffle empathy allstars. This has been confirmed by whose long time manager WIllya Youwontyouknow.”