Drummer fired twice from legendary band calls members ‘insane’
Drummer Zak Starkey was fired by The Who , then rehired, then fired again within the span of a month.
While Starkey, who has played with the band since 1996, says he still considers Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey family, he does take issue with the reasons they gave for dismissing him from the band.
Starkey, who is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Maureen Starkey, detailed what led to his firing in a recent interview with The Telegraph .
“What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong,” Starkey said, referring to The Who’s performance of “The Song is Over” at the band’s second show at Royal Albert Hall in March.
A review of the band’s March gig in the Metro implied that Daltrey openly bashed Starkey’s performance while on stage.
While performing “The Song Is Over,” Daltrey stopped and said, “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,’” according to the review.
However, Starkey told The Telegraph that The Who doesn’t typically play the 1971 hit live and didn’t rehearse it enough.
He also said Daltrey “took a bit out” of the song because it was too long and came “in a bar early.”
“I watched the show and I can’t find any dropped beats,” Starkey told The Telegraph. “Then Pete had to go along with it because Pete’s had 60 years of arguing with Roger.”
The Who kicked Starkey out of the band seven days later. Afterward, Townshend called Starkey to ask if he wanted to fight for his place back. He said no. But a week later, Townshend called again, and Starkey had changed his mind.
“I said, ‘I want my gig back,’” Starkey told The Telegraph.
The drummer’s reunion with The Who was short-lived after he was dropped again just two weeks later.
“It was like, ‘Roger says he can’t work with you no more, and we’d like you to issue another statement saying you’re leaving to do your other projects, and I just didn’t do it because I wasn’t leaving [of my own volition],” Starkey said.
The drummer added that the band’s team “didn’t specify” why Daltrey felt he couldn’t work with Starkey. The singer later told him that “you’re not fired, you’re retired because you’ve got so many other projects,” according to Starkey.
Despite the situation, Starkey regrets how some fans sided with him and slammed Daltrey and Townshend.
“I don’t blame anyone. I blame The Who because they’re unpredictable, aggressive and (expletive) insane,” he said.
Starkey was first fired by The Who in mid-April, two weeks after the second Royal Albert Hall show. The band was said to have “made a collective decision” to part ways with the drummer, The Sun reported at the time.
Starkey, who first joined The Who in 1996, later told Rolling Stone that he was “surprised and saddened” by his firing, but was grateful for his time with the band.
“I’m very proud of my near thirty years with The Who. Filling the shoes of my Godfather, ‘uncle Keith [Moon]’ has been the biggest honor, and I remain their biggest fan. They’ve been like family to me,” Starkey wrote in the statement. “Twenty-nine years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.”
In mid-May, Starkey was fired for the second time prior to The Who’s farewell tour .
“After many years of great work on drums from Zak, the time has come for a change. A poignant time,” The Who’s Pete Townshend wrote on Instagram on May 18. “Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”
In a counter-statement also posted on Instagram , Starkey called Townshend’s announcement a lie.
“I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit The Who to pursue my other musical endeavors‚" Starkey wrote. “This would be a lie. I love The Who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ... quitting The Who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me ...”
Starkey clarified that although he does have other projects, it would not have interfered with the tour and cited other points in time when he would balance both plans, from the 1990s through 2020.
“None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them,” Starkey said. “The lie is or would have been that I quit The Who — I didn’t. I love The Who and everyone in it.”
Although the farewell tour was expected to include Starkey, he has already been replaced by Scott Devours.
“The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour” will feature 16 shows, including a concert at Fenway Park in Boston on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
Meanwhile, Starkey is taking time to focus on his other projects, including his band Mantra of the Cosmos. The group includes Shaun Ryder and Bez of the Happy Mondays and Black Grape, and Andy Bell of Oasis and Ride.
More music content
Read the original article on MassLive .
