"I’m still confused." Zak Starkey still doesn't know why he was fired – then rehired and fired again – from The Who

Zak Starkey of The Who performs onstage during The Who Hits Back! Tour on May 03, 2022 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas

(Image credit: Rick Kern/Getty Images for The Who)

Zak Starkey says he is still confused about his in-again-out-again saga with The Who earlier this year.

The drummer, who had been part of The Who since 1996, was fired by the band in April, before being reinstated just a few days later.

But the following month, he was out once again just weeks after the band had announced a North American farewell tour which wrapped up in September.

The initial firing was said to be sparked by an incident during the band's performance at a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show at London's Royal Albert Hall.

They were playing the rarely-seen track The Song is Over when, Starkey said, singer Roger Daltrey came in a bar too early and took it out on the man behind the kit.

Now in a new interview, Starkey admits he's still unclear about the reasons for the saga.

He tells Q104.3: "It was pretty confusing. And I think they’re still confused. I’m still confused.

"I have nothing against them. As far as I know, they’re done. I’d like to have finished it off, but I didn’t. I don’t hold a grudge, really, because they’re my friends and we've been friends for such a long time.

"We remained friends throughout. I spoke to Roger like, two weeks ago. wWe never actually became enemies or anything.

"I think they just wanted to change. And then they didn’t, and then they did, and then they didn’t, and then they did, and then they didn’t."

Despite not wanting to leave the band, and missing out on the opportunity to join another of his former bands Oasis on their world-dominating reunion tour this year, Starkey is keen to remain friends with The Who.

He adds: "I’ve been working with Roger on and off since I was 17 and I worked with John Entwistle from even younger than that. I was in The Who 29 years, and I wouldn’t bury a friendship over it. It’s just band business."

Zak Starkey Talks One-Man Show, The Who, Oasis, Marc Bolan + More - YouTube

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.

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