An official statement from The Who has confirmed that their drummer, Zak Starkey, the son of Beatles legend Ringo Star, has been sacked from the band.
Starkey has been The Who’s drummer of choice for 30 years, in addition to his playing with his father’s All-Starr Band, Oasis, Johnny Marr and The Lightning Seeds.
The announcement comes following The Who’s recent gigs at the Royal Albert Hall in London. As the founder of the Teenage Cancer Trust at Royal Albert Hall concert series, lead vocalist Roger Daltrey had put the band back together again for two fund-raising gigs on Thursday 27 March and Sunday 30 March, with Level 42 in support.
Today, an official release from the band reads: "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."
This official confirmation of Starkey’s departure follows a more cryptic offering from Starkey himself days earlier in which he cited Daltrey’s dissatisfaction with his playing at the gigs as the reason why he was about to be sacked.
In a Trumpian all-caps post Starkey said on Instagram (we’ll save you the caps and correct the spelling and grammar for easy consumption):
“Heard today from an inside source within The Who’s horse's nose that Roger Daltrey, lead singer and principal songwriter of the group, was unhappy with Zak the drummer’s performance at the Albert Hall a few weeks ago.
"He’s bringing formal charges of overplaying and is literally going to Zak [sic] the drummer and bring on a reserve from The Burwash Car Wash Skiffle ‘n’ Tickle Glee Club Harmony Without Empathy Allstars. This has been confirmed by The Who’s long time manager William Curbishley.”
All very cryptic. And possibly a joke at the time. But seemingly all very true. And full marks for christening Roger Daltrey as “Toger Daktrey”. And William Curbishley as “Willya Youwontyouknow”.
Daltrey, 81, a man who famously hoped that he’d die before he got old, and back-of-a-spoon-faced bandmate Pete Townshend, 79, have, of course, enjoyed a fractious relationship over the years, disbanding The Who as a touring commodity as early as 1982 – much to the chagrin of bassist John Entwistle – before going on to play Live Aid in 1985 and engage in at least three ‘farewell’ tours since then.
March’s final final charity gigs at the Royal Albert Hall were, by all accounts a success, but weren’t without their moments. According to attendees, Daltrey halted the show multiple times, complaining that he was unable to hear the music over the drums.
After gesturing to the sound crew throughout the night Daltrey complained on mic during the final song, The Song Is Over that: “To sing that song I need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”
Seems that final gig may have been the final straw for Starkey, and with him now with free time on his hands we inevitably have to speculate as to whether he's now in prime position to resume the Oasis drummer role and rejoin the band for their upcoming renunion tour.
Further probing has revealed that the appointment of Joey Waronker on drums for the upcoming megagigs was only ever a suggestion rather than an official announcement.
Meanwhile the identity of the band Starkey is referring to when he suggests that his replacement will be coming from “The Burwash Car Wash Skiffle ‘n’ Tickle Glee Club Harmony Without Empathy Allstars” remains a source of similar speculation.
