Zak Starkey reinstated as The Who's drummer, days after departure

The Guardian

19-04-2025

Zak Starkey has been reinstated as The Who's drummer just days after parting company with the band.
The group announced earlier this week that Starkey, the band's drummer since 1996, was leaving over a disagreement about his playing at a Royal Albert Hall gig last month.
A representative for the band had suggested the decision was mutual and came after their performance for the Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT).
But The Who's guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend said on Saturday that the 59-year-old has been welcomed back into the fold.
Townshend said in a statement: 'He's 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.
'Roger [Daltrey] 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 TCT 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.'
Starkey wrote on social media: 'V grateful to be a part of The Who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx.'
A review in the Metro of the gig at the Royal Albert Hall suggested that the band's frontman Daltrey was complaining onstage about Starkey's performance.
It said Daltrey paused their final track, The Song is Over, and told the audience: '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.'
Starkey, the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Maureen Starkey, joined the band full-time during their 1996 Quadrophenia tour.
He has also played with Oasis, Johnny Marr, the Lightning Seeds, Sly and Robbie, and his father.