Pete Townshend has given more detail on Zak Starkey's sacking from The Who and admits that it "got out of hand".
Drummer Starkey was initially fired in April after a dispute with frontman Roger Daltrey during a Teenage Cancer Trust Performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
A few days later, he was reinstated. But a month after that, he was once again out of the band, with Townshend 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."
Starkey was quick to clarify that it was nothing to do with his other projects, saying: "I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit The Who to pursue my other musical endeavours this would be a lie. I love The Who and would never have quit."
In a new interview with The i Paper, Townshend reveals he did not agree with Daltrey's assessment that Starkey had made any errors during the Royal Albert Hall performance, instead blaming the overall sound on the night.
He says: "It’s been a mess.
"I couldn’t see anything wrong. What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I’ve lost my sound man as a result.
"I think Roger just got lost. Roger’s finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next.
"But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand."
Asked whether firing Starkey was difficult for him, Townshend starts by saying "Well, I’ve never been a huge," before stopping himself.
He goes on to add: "I didn’t invite him in, right? Roger invited him. And at that time, I don’t know quite why he chose Zak, but Zak is another Keith Moon. He comes with real, real bonuses and real, real difficulties.
"I will miss Zak terribly. But quite what the story is, I don’t fucking know. I really don’t know."
The Who head out on a farewell North American tour starting in August. Scott Devours will be on drums.
The Who: The Song Is Over tour 2025
Aug 16: Sunrise Amerant Bank Arena, FL =
Aug 19: Newark Prudential Center, NJ =
Aug 21: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center, PA ^
Aug 23: Atlantic City Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, NJ +
Aug 26: Boston Fenway Park, MA ¶
Aug 28: Wantagh Northwell at Jones Beach Theater, NY º
Aug 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY º
Sep 02: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON >
Sep 04: Toronto Budweiser Stage, ON >
Sep 07: Chicago United Center, IL <
Sep 09: Chicago United Center, IL <
Sep 17: Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA ¶
Sep 19: Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, CA ¶
Sep 21: Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre, CA ¢
Sep 23: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC ¢
Sep 25: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena, WA ¢
Sep 28: Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena, NV ø
= with Billy Bob Thornton and The Boxmasters
^ with ZZ Ward
+ with Booker T. Jones
¶ with The Joe Perry Project
º with Feist
> with Tom Cochrane
< with Joe Bonamassa
¢ with Candlebox
ø with Billy Idol
