Zak Starkey Now Says That He Was “Retired” by The Who

Usually, it’s the employee that does the retiring, but in the case of Zak Starkey and The Who, it appears that the band “retired” the drummer. Starkey has offered new insight into his recent firing, re-hiring, and re-firing from the legendary rock act, saying that singer Roger Daltrey insisted that Starkey wasn’t “fired,” but “retired.”

Get The Who Tickets Here

In a new Instagram post on Monday (May 26th), Starkey noted that he had a confusing conversation with Daltrey at the end of last week. The drummer explained that it was not his decision to part ways with The Who ahead of the band’s upcoming North American farewell tour, despite the singer’s insistence on using the word “retired.” His full post reads as follows:

“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. 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….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!!!’ XXX”

As previously reported, Starkey was initially fired from The Who in April after the band experienced a few hiccups during its performance at the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He was then quickly reinstated, with guitarist Pete Townshend blaming “communication issues” behind the firing. However, Starkey was then re-fired earlier this month, and replaced by Daltrey’s solo drummer Scott Devours.

The Who are set to embark on their absolute final North American tour from mid August through late September, with tickets available here. Among the support acts are Billy Idol, Feist, The Joe Perry Project, Billy Bob Thornton, and more.