Zak Starkey was “retired” not “fired” from The Who, says Roger Daltrey
Zak Starkey has clarified that Roger Daltrey told him he was “retired” and not “fired” from The Who.
Following “weeks of mayhem” between The Who members over the drummer’s departure from the band, Starkey has now cleared up any rumours of acrimony in an Instagram post.
“I had a great phone chat with Roger at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!!” Starkey began. “Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’… I had been ‘retired’ to work n my own projects [sic].”
He went on to tell Daltrey that he had “just spent nearly eight 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).”
Starkey added that he told the singer that he “was completely available for the foreseeable future”, to which Daltrey apparently responded: “Oh!”.
“We kind of left it there – on good terms and great friends as we have always been,” Starkey continued, concluding: “Gotta love these guys. As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’”
The back and forth ensued after the drummer appeared to publicly confirm in April that he had been let go from The Who. At that point, Starkey – the son of Ringo Starr – had been drumming with the band since 1996.
However, Pete Townshend later denied his firing just days afterward, confirming that he was “not being asked to step down”.
Then, on May 18, Townshend officially announced Starkey’s departure from the band, writing that “the time has come for a change”. He cited Starkey’s “new projects” as an added reason for him to leave concluding: “I wish him the best”.
In response, Starkey took to Instagram to claim the band had asked him to say he had quit, writing: “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical [endeavours]. This would be a lie.”
He went on to clarify that although he did have other projects and “always have”, The Who had been “sporadic” in touring, bar two extensive treks in 2000 and 2006-2007.
In the same post confirming Starkey’s retirement, they announced Scott Devours – who had worked with Roger Daltrey‘s solo band – as their new drummer. Devours would call the weight of being their new sticksman “enormous”, adding that he understood if fans were “gutted” by Starkey’s loss.
Elsewhere, in the run-up to their farewell North American tour starting in August, Roger Daltrey has commented on touring with Pete Townshend: “I won’t do it with someone who is half-hearted about it”.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
