Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

HomeEntertainmentThe Who drummer Zak Starkey sacked weeks after rejoining the band

The Who drummer Zak Starkey sacked weeks after rejoining the band

The Who’s drummer Zak Starkey has been sacked by the band, marking the second time he has left in the past month.

The band’s guitarist Pete Townshend made a statement on Instagram on Sunday, saying: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change.

“A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”

The announcement comes weeks before the iconic British rock group’s farewell tour.

In response, Starkey, who had been a band member since 1996, said in an Instagram post he would “never have quit” and had experienced “weeks of mayhem”.

“I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit to follow my other musical endeavours,” he wrote.

“Not true. I love The Who and would never have quit and let down so many amazing people who stood up for me through all this madness.”

Reports surfaced in April that the band had taken the “collective decision” to sack Starkey after a row over their Teenage Cancer Trust shows in March.

Image:
Roger Daltrey and Starkey on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in March. Pic: PA


A review of one gig, published in the Metro, suggested frontman Roger Daltrey, who launched the annual gig series for the charity in 2000, had been “frustrated” with the drumming during some tracks.

According to the review, Daltrey at one point paused a song 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.”

At the time, the 59-year-old drummer said he was “surprised and saddened” by news of his sacking.

Three days after the reports came out, a statement on the band’s official social media pages titled “News Flash! Who Backs Zak,” said he was “not being asked to step down from The Who”.

Read more:
Inside Diddy’s star-studded parties
Austria wins Eurovision

In it, Townshend said: “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.

“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.”

Later in the lengthy statement, he said regarding the gigs: “Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised.”

At that point, Starkey – who is the son of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr – reposted Townshend’s statement, with the message: “V grateful to be a part of the Who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx”.

Starkey also drums for supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos – along with fellow musicians Shaun Ryder and Bez from Happy Mondays, and Andy Bell of Ride and Oasis – and has previously played with Oasis, Lightning Seeds and Johnny Marr.

Content Source: news.sky.com

Related News

Latest News