Zak Starkey Re-Hired by the Who: ‘Communication Issues Have Been Aired Happily,’ Pete Townshend Posts – Variety
2025-04-19T14:22:00Z
Days after the Who parted ways with Zak Starkey — Ringo Starr’s son and the band’s longtime drummer —Pete Townshend said that he has been un-fired.
In a surprise move, just days after the Who announced that it had parted ways with Zak Starkey — Ringo Starr’s son and the band’s drummer for nearly 30 years — the group’s Pete Townshend announced that he has been un-fired.
“News flash! Who back Zak!,” Townshend wrote early Saturday in two posts on his official Instagram account, which is comically titled “Yaggerdang.” “Zak is not being asked to step down from The Who. There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”
He then pointed to the full statement on the band’s website, which explains the cause of the rift (Starkey’s playing at a recent London concert) and continues:
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“Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed. I take responsibility for some of the confusion. Our [Teen Cancer Trust benefit] shows at the Royal Albert Hall were a little tricky for me. I thought that four and a half weeks would be enough time to recover completely from having a complete knee replacement. (Why did I ever think I could land on my knees?) Wrong!
“Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with. Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer. [Note: Townshend’s meaning here is unclear and presumably an inside joke.] We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.
“As for Roger, fans can enjoy his forthcoming solo shows with his fabulous drummer, Scott Devours, who it was rumoured might replace Zak in The Who and has always been supportive of the band.
“I owe Scott an apology for not crushing that rumour before it spread. He has been hurt by this. I promise to buy him a very long drink and give him a hug.”
The statement is signed “Pete Townshend 19 April 2025.”
Starkey shared the post on his Instagram account a short time later, writing, “V grateful to be a part of the who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx.”
One source had told Variety on Thursday that Starkey was said to be returning to the band, but had no further information.
The Who announced in a statement last Wednesday that it had parted ways with Starkey after disputes over his playing at the group’s concert last month at London’s Royal Albert Hall, which was a benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
“The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” a representative for the band said in a statement to the Guardian. “They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.”
In a statement to Variety later on Wednesday, Starkey said: “I’m very proud of my near thirty years with The Who. Filling the shoes of my Godfather, ‘uncle Keith’ has been the biggest honor and I remain their biggest fan,” he said, referencing original Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978 and was a close friend of Zak’s father and a mentor to the young Starkey. “They’ve been like family to me. In January, I suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf. This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running. After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?
“I plan to take some much needed time off with my family, and focus on the release of ‘Domino Bones’ by Mantra Of The Cosmos with Noel Gallagher in May and finishing my autobiography written solely by me,” he concluded. “29 years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.” Over the years Starkey has also played with Oasis, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, reggae legends Sly and Robbie and many others, including Ringo. His latest project is the Mantra of the Cosmos group he mentioned in his statement, with ‘90s British indie veterans Shaun Ryder and Bez of the Happy Mondays and Andy Bell of Oasis and Ride, and guest appearances from Oasis’ Noel Gallagher.
According to a review of the Who’s Royal Albert Hall show published in the U.K.’s Metro, Daltrey, 81, paused the group’s final song, “The Song Is Over,” saying, “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.”
The Who have been an infamously fractious band for their entire career, with frequent arguments between members that have even on occasion led to fistfights. In fact, the band name Led Zeppelin was first suggested by Moon after he and original bassist John Entwistle planned to leave the Who in 1966 and regroup with guitarists Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck — then with the Yardbirds — and singer Steve Marriott. However, the manager of the Small Faces, Marriott’s band at the time, allegedly made threatening noises about the move and everyone returned to their previous bands, although Beck left the Yardbirds shortly afterward. (Page, however, clearly kept the name in mind.) One recording by the Page-Beck-Moon lineup survives, the 1966 instrumental “Beck’s Bolero,” which also features future Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones.
The group nearly split again after Moon’s death in 1978, but reunited with former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones. He and Daltrey sparred and the group announced its split in 1982 and did a lucrative farewell tour, but reunited (without Jones) seven years later. The Who have continued ever since, touring or playing isolated concerts every year or two (including a tour with a full orchestra in 2019). Entwistle died in 2002, but many fans feel that as long as Townshend and Daltrey are present, it’s still the Who.
Starkey, 59, had hinted at his impending ouster in a pun-filled Instagram post last weekend, in which he used his first name in place of the verb “sack,” British slang for being fired, and clearly poked at Daltrey. In a caption a photo of himself with the singer, he wrote in all-caps: “Heard today from inside source within whose horses nose that Toger Daktrey 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 and bring on a reserve from ‘the burwash carwash skiffle ‘n’ tickle glee club harmony without empathy allstars’ this has been confirmed by whose long time manager willya youwontyouknow.”
Given the Who’s history and advanced age — Daltrey is 81 and Townshend turns 80 next month — it remains to be seen how much more touring the band will do, but Daltrey is currently on a solo U.K. tour, and neither musician shows any signs of slowing down in the immediate future.
Townshend told Variety last December, “I know that if Roger and I do tour again, as I’m sure we will, it will probably be one of the last periods that we tour. I would love to do another album with Roger. I really enjoyed doing the last one, but he doesn’t really want to do that,” he said, referring to the 2019 outing titled simply “Who,” just the second studio album the band has released since 1982.
“I feel like with the Who, I’m still trying to push this elephant up the hill, with Roger being resistant to doing new creative work,” he concluded. “He always says to me, “Pete, you’ve done enough. We did enough in the early days. That’s what people want here. Let’s just do that.”
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