The Who’s Roger Daltrey Accuses Zak Starkey Of “Character Assassination”
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Most of what we’ve heard about drummer Zak Starkey’s firing, re-hiring, and re-firing from the Who has come from Starkey himself. The son of Ringo Starr initially chalked up the drama to miscommunication between him and frontman Roger Daltrey, who’s still aboard the Who’s farewell tour despite his age and health threatening to get in the way. Guitarist Pete Townshend briefly chimed in on the ordeal, though it sounds like he’s just as confused as the rest of us. Now Daltrey has weighed in, but he’s a little less forgiving of Starkey.
In a new interview with the UK Times, Daltrey spoke about the Who’s farewell tour and the disputes with Starkey, which began at the Who’s ill-fated residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall earlier this year. During one of those shows, Daltrey told the crowd: “All I’ve got is drum sound: boom, boom, boom. And I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.” Afterwards, Starkey took to his social media to accuse Daltrey of being a bit hostile towards him, describing the situation as “total bollox.”
Daltrey told the Times: “An audience can see what’s happening on stage and have a complete misunderstanding of what’s actually going on… [My in-ear monitors are] controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn’t pitch. I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at him because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon. So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn’t. That’s all that happened.”
Daltrey added: “Pete and I retain the right to be the Who. Everyone else is a session player. You can’t replace Keith Moon. We wanted to branch out and that’s all I want to say about it. But [Starkey’s reaction] was crippling to me.”
The Who’s farewell tour recently kicked off with replacement drummer Scott Devours. Daltrey, who’s now 81, had to take a kneel onstage while singing during the first show. I sincerely hope his knees make it through.
UPDATE: Starkey has issued a response on Instagram to Daltrey’s remarks, saying that he “had no idea about getting fired or any problems at all until a week after” that Royal Albert Hall show. It doesn’t seem like he wants to hold any grudges, though. Here’s the full statement:
