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Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Zak Starkey Breaks Silence on Firing From the Who: ‘I'm Surprised and Saddened'
Earlier today, the Who announced that they were parting ways with drummer Zak Starkey after three decades. Rumors swirled that the group were unhappy with his performance last month when they played a pair of Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows at London's Royal Albert Hall. In his first public statement since the group let him go, Starkey confirms this is indeed the case. 'I'm very proud of my near thirty years with The Who,' Starkey tells Rolling Stone in a written statement. 'Filling the shoes of my Godfather, 'uncle Keith' has been the biggest honor and I remain their biggest fan. 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.' More from Rolling Stone The Who Part Ways With Drummer Zak Starkey After Three Decades Pete Townshend's Signature Dr. Martens Get a Luxury Upgrade With the Brand's Newest Drop Roger Daltrey Says He's Going Deaf and Blind He continues: '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. Twenty-nine years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.' Starkey first entered the Who's orbit in 1994 when he backed Roger Daltrey on an American tour. Two years later, he joined the Who when the surviving members reunited for a tour celebrating their 1973 LP Quadrophenia. 'There were certain things that had to be in there, certain fills that had to be exactly the same because they are so Quadrophenia, if you know what I mean,' Starkey told Modern Drummer in 2006. 'They are memorable fills. There aren't memorable parts, though, because everything Keith played kept changing. If you listen to 'The Real Me,' you're not quite playing the same thing every time, ever. Every bar comes around again, but what he played was never the exact same thing.' The Who don't have a tour on the books, but they are playing a pair of shows in Italy in late July. They have yet to announce who will replace Starkey behind the kit at those gigs. One likely candidate is Scott Devours, who has been in Daltrey's solo band since 2009. He also toured with the Who in 2013 when Starkey was suffering from a tendon problem. Another possible pick is journeyman drummer Simon Phillips. He was Pete Townshend's go-to drummer on his Eighties solo albums and live shows, and he played in the Who on their 1989 reunion tour. When Starkey was unable to make a Who gig in 2000 due to his commitments with Johnny Marr and the Healers, Philips returned to the group for a single night. Townshend remains a huge admirer of his work and has recently expressed interest in working with him again. In a 2024 interview with Mojo, Townshend said that Daltrey was in charge of putting the Who's backing band together, and that he 'wasn't 100% happy' with his picks. 'I'd get Simon Phillips on drums and Pino Palladino on bass, and I'd dig 'Rabbit' [keyboardist John Bundrick] out of his bed,' Townshend said. 'And I'd get some fabulous shredding guitar player… but the problem is, they'd all be far, far superior musicians to me.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Watch the Who Play ‘The Song Is Over' for First Time Ever in Concert
The Who released their landmark LP Who's Next in 1971, and before the year was out they'd played seven of the nine songs live in concert. The two exceptions were 'The Song Is Over' and 'Goin' Mobile.' It took 54 years and more than 1,000 concerts, but they finally broke out 'The Song Is Over' Sunday evening at London's Royal Albert Hall on the second of their two charity shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust. 'We dedicate this to all the fans that heard the 2016 setlist a 100 times,' Pete Townshend told the audience. 'Well, not 100 times, but a lot. So, we're going to have a go at this one. I think Roger is having trouble hearing though.' More from Rolling Stone Watch The Who Rip Through 'The Real Me,' 'I Can't Explain,' '5:15' at First Show of 2025 Pete Townshend: 'I've Got Maybe 10 Years Left as a Creative' Robert Smith Takes the Reins on Curating Teenage Cancer Trust 2026 Concert Lineup Drummer Zak Starkey live-streamed extensive rehearsals of the song on Instagram prior to both Royal Albert Hall shows. But when the big moment came to finally debut it before live audience, Daltrey was indeed having trouble hearing. He stopped the band about two minutes into their first attempt. 'To sing that song, I do need to hear the key,' he says. 'And I can't hear. There's no pitch here. I just hear drums, 'boom boom boom.' I can't sing to that. I'm sorry guys. We'll try one more even though it's getting late.' In a blog post prior to the show, the group's longtime associate, Brian Kehew, explained that Daltrey decided to ditch his in-ear monitors for these gigs so he'd feel closer to the audience. 'Without his in-ear monitors, Roger has us bring forward his rear wedge speakers, the ones that feed him drum sounds,' Kehew wrote. 'This makes the drums feel closer to him, which is helpful.' The plan seemed to backfire during the initial run at 'The Song Is Over.' 'I can sing it in any fuckin' key you want, but I need to be able to hear myself,' Daltrey said. 'It's not your fault guys. I just can't hear.' Townshend underwent knee replacement surgery just a few weeks ago, and he sat down for parts of the show. But at this point, he stood up to try and work things out with the sound crew. It seemed to be a success: the band ran through it a second time and Daltrey had no trouble. This now leaves 'Goin' Mobile' as the only Who's Next song they've never done live. It has been a staple of many recent Daltrey solo shows where Simon Townshend sings lead vocals in the place of his older brother. The younger Townshend is also a member of the Who's touring band. But even if they added that song into the mix, they'd still need to find a way to play 'My Wife' without John Entwistle before attempting a complete Who's Next concert. It's hard to imagine that happening. In the meantime, the Who will now be inactive before they play a pair of Italy shows in July. Their plans beyond that are unclear. But Kehew did inform fans that the band discussed the possibility of breaking out other obscure songs before deciding to simply focus on the classics, since they hadn't played a single gig in the past year prior to this week. 'They're working hard to just regain ground that seemed lost during the orchestral years,' he wrote. 'So just playing the old familiar tunes has become hard enough. A lot to remember. (Zak told me that in the year 2000 he was tasked to come up with a set of obscure-but-cool Who tunes to play in/out of the tour set lists. He chose a bunch of his favorites – 'Melancholia' is the only one he remembers now, an exceptional choice, I must say!!! They practiced these new pieces for days and then went on tour; none of them were ever played. Ah well, history repeats itself.)' For you non-fanatics out there, 'Melancholia' is a fantastically obscure song from The Who Sell Out they've never done in concert. In a dream world, they'll debut it in Italy this summer. For now, fans should be happy they finally got a chance to hear 'The Song Is Over' after all these years. Who could have imagined back in 1971 we'd have to wait until 2025 to witness that? Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
