The Who splits with Zak Starkey, again: Drummer challenges band’s justification
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For British drummer Zak Starkey, the last few months with rock band the Who have been quite the whirlwind.
Starkey, who the band fired in April and reinstated days later after “some communication issues,” announced Sunday the “Baba O’Riley” group had fired him again. The veteran drummer, son of Ringo Starr, shared his side of the split on Instagram and disputed the band’s separate announcement about his departure.
The Who, in a joint Instagram post with guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend, said Sunday, “after many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change.”
“Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best,” the post said, before adding that drummer Scott Devours would fill his seat for the band’s remaining farewell shows.
‘I enjoyed the past two years with them, both on and off stage,’ Freese said. ‘I support whatever they feel is best for the band.’
Starkey, 59, added his own text atop the band’s statement for his post. In his caption, he claimed he “was asked” to share his own announcement that he would leave the Who to pursue other projects. “This would be a lie,” he wrote. “I love The Who and would never had quit.”
He added: “So I didn’t make the statement...quitting The Who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me...thru the weeks of mayhem.”
Starkey, who has played with Oasis and the Icicle Works, among other acts, began performing with the Who in the mid-1990s and said he rarely faced conflict juggling his duties with the band and other endeavors. He also noted that the group has, for the most part, “been sporadic or minimalist in touring.”
“None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them,” he continued in his caption, which offered a timeline of his various musical commitments. “The lie is or would have been that I quit The Who — I didn’t. I love The Who and everyone in it.”
A representative for the Who did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.
Alice in Chains put out a statement on Saturday announcing the cancellation after a previous show on their tour was called off.
In a second Instagram post Sunday, the band noted that it is “heading for retirement” and their now-ex-drummer is younger and must “devote all his energy into making” new endeavors a success.
When the Who announced Starkey’s reinstatement, Townshend said in a blog post to the band’s website the drummer needed “to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed” and shared more details about the sound issues that seemingly led up to Starkey’s initial firing.
“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,” Townshend wrote. “[The Who co-founder] Roger [Daltrey] 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.”
He added: “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.”
The Who embarks on its Song Is Over North America Farewell tour in August. The group will make two stops at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 17 and 19.
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