The Who have reportedly fired longtime drummer Zak Starkey following tension at their recent Royal Albert Hall shows – find out more below.
According to a statement to The Mirror via a spokesperson for the band, The Who’s “collective decision to part ways with Zak” comes after the recent “round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall”.
The spokesperson went on to add: “They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.” An additional source told The Mirror that the split was “acrimonious to say the least”. Sources also added that the band had “few issues with the drumming… and the standard wasn’t as high as everyone wanted.”
The split comes nearly 30 years after Starkey – son of Ringo Starr – joined the band as their full-time drummer in 1996. Starkey’s alleged firing – though currently unconfirmed by The Who or Starkey – comes after their pair of shows at the Royal Albert Hall last month for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Who’s Roger Daltrey and Zak Starkey performing live. Credit: Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images
According to a Metro report, The Who frontman Roger Daltrey openly complained several times of Starkey “overplaying” at the Royal Albert Hall gig on March 30, at one point saying in front of the audience: “To sing that song I do 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.”
Starkey seems to have seen the firing coming, taking to social media on Sunday (April 13) to hint at tension with Daltrey, using his name as a pun to say that Roger wanted to “zak [sack] the drummer”.
Starkey wrote in his post, which included a picture of himself with Daltrey: “Heart today from inside source… that [Roger Daltrey] 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”. See the full post below.
Contrary to reports of Starkey “overplaying” at recent The Who shows, comments on Starkey’s drumming no longer being at the “standard” the band wanted seems to stem from him suffering a blood clot in his leg earlier this year.
Starkey’s supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos were due to perform a secret gig in Soho this January, but had to cancel at the last minute after the drummer was revealed to have a blood clot in his right leg, and was ordered by a doctor to take blood thinners for the condition and rest for two weeks.
A replacement for Zak Starkey in The Who has yet to be announced.
In other news, Daltrey told an audience recently that he has been told he is “going blind”. Referencing the band’s 1969 rock opera title character, he added: “Thank God I’ve still got my voice. If I lost that I’ll go full Tommy.”
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