Zak Starkey says The Who’s frontman Roger Daltrey told him he had been “retired, not fired” as the band’s drummer.
There has been much confusion about the sticksman’s status in the band; having been fired and reinstated a couple of times over the past weeks.
Zak recently jumped on the phone with Roger, who informed him that the rock legends – also including guitarist Pete Townshend – had decided to free him of his duties to work on other projects, including his band Mantra Of The Cosmos, but insisted he was not being “fired”.
Detailing their debrief, Zak posted to Instagram: “NOISE and CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger [Daltrey] at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!!
“Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work on my own projects. I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ).”
It turns out, Zak – the son of Beatle Sir Ringo Starr – was “completely available”, but he’s “left it there” and insisted there are no hard feelings.
He added: “I was completely available for the foreseeable future….Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there- On good terms and great friends as we have always been.
“Gotta love these guys. As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’ XXX. (sic)”
Zak’s caption was accompanied by a picture with the text: “Drummers: From Keith Moon to Zak Starkey and Beyonce.”
The drummer was believed to have been fired from the group after almost 30 years in the wake of a disagreement over his performance at a show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity in March.
However, he was reinstated in a matter of days with Pete saying in a statement: “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”
On May 18, Pete confirmed that Zak will not be joining the pair for their final tour of North America.
Zak then claimed he was fired two weeks after being “reinstated”, and allegedly told to make up that he was leaving the legendary band due to his other work commitments.
Scott Devours, who played in Roger’s solo band, is Zak’s replacement on the tour.