It's a turbulent time for arena-touring rock drummers right now. A few days ago Foo Fighters unceremoniously fired their drummer Josh Freese after two years, and that news has only been overshadowed by the Who's indecision about keeping Zak Starkey in their own lineup. As of now, it looks like Starkey will in fact not be joining the Who on their upcoming North American farewell tour.
Starkey -- whose dad is Ringo Starr and has been touring with the Who for nearly 30 years -- announced on social media just over a month ago that he'd been booted from the band and was facing “formal charges of overplaying.” (It's worth noting that growing up, Starkey also learned how to drum from the Who's famously rowdy Keith Moon.) But a few days later, Pete Townshend cleared the air, saying that everyone talked everything out and Starkey was still in the band after all.
Today, however, Townshend (who turned 80 years old tomorrow) took to his Instagram and shared a post saying that Starkey would no longer be touring with the band, though it's unclear why. The statement reads:
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. Scott Devours who has worked with Roger [Daltrey]'s solo band will join The Who for our Final shows. Please welcome him.
Devours has filled in for Starkey on drums for the Who before, and besides playing for some of Daltrey's solo shows, has also performed in the bands Oleander and IMA Robot. Now, the question is: Is Zak Starkey joining Foo Fighters? See Townshend's statement below.
UPDATE: Starkey has issued an Instagram response, writing:
I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endevours this would be a lie. I love the who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox x To clarify ‘other projects’ yes I do have other projects and always have. The Who have been sporadic or minimalist in touring most years apart from a two extensive tours in 2000 and 2006/7
To be precise while I was in the who 1996-1999 I had other projects with Johnny Marr, Lightning Seeds and Mike Scott.
2000-2003 Johnny Marr and The Healers opening for oasis in Europe releasing album and 6 month world tour 2004-2008 Oasis 2 studio albums and 120live shows. 2006-2017 Pengu!Ns , Sshh touring internationally. Releasing 3 singles, Kasabian bbc proms 2007 Weller Coxon Starkey Mani.
2015 Hollywood Vampires Roxy LA shows and rock in Rio 2017-2020 Trojan Jamaica record label releasing three albums and winning Grammy for best reggae album 2020
2020 Peter Green Tribute Concert . As u see there has always been time for other projects … 2022-2025/now mantra of the cosmos with Shaun Ryder Bez Andy Bell and NG. Releasing singles but not touring cos members are so busy. None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them . The lie is or would have been that I quit the who- i didn’t. I love the who and everyone in it.
And the Who followed up with their own formal statement:
The Who are heading for retirement, whereas Zak is 20 years younger and has a great future with his new band and other exciting projects. He needs to devote all his energy into making it all a success . We both wish him all the luck in the world.
Scott Devours – Who fans will know himfrom Roger’s solo shows – will be replacing Zak. We hope all our fans will welcome him.
Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey
And Devours writes in a series of Instagram comments:
Yesterday, with a short, simple Instagram post, Pete and Roger, once again, changed my life forever. It’s hard to express the tsunami of emotions that I’m processing since that incredible news, but there are a couple of things I feel compelled to say…
The first is that I need to thank all the family, friends & fans for the countless messages, texts and emails congratulating me and sharing their excitement. Please accept this group: “thank you”. The amount of positivity thrown my way has been overwhelming, I truly thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Also, please don’t ask me for tickets, lol.
The second is that I understand and accept the reality that there are many lifelong Who fans who are absolutely gutted by the news that Zak is no longer on the throne behind The Who. As a huge fan myself, there is a part of me that’s processing this loss with a heavy heart too. It really is a strange contradiction of emotions to have the greatest moment of my professional career also be one framed with some sadness and shadowed by someone else’s loss. It’s tough to put into words actually, but I know it’s there and it’s real.
I guess the reality of it is this:
I’m sure there are many fans who will not accept me or anyone on that throne except for Zak. I know that this will be the case for some and I acknowledge that. For others, perhaps the jury is still out. Maybe I’ll need to let the music do the talking? In my world, there are no bigger shoes to fill than those behind Pete and Roger. The weight of this responsibility is enormous and I am feeling every ounce of it. What I want to say to all of the fans is that I will do everything I can to honor the legacy of The Who, Zak, Kenney Jones, Simon Phillips and the memory of the great Keith Moon. For my name to even be mentioned in a sentence like that literally sends shivers down my spine and I know I need to earn this honor. Since this is the last time Pete and Roger will be touring the US, playing the greatest songs ever written, I will be giving them every second of my time, every beat of my heart, and every drop of my sweat and blood. This is my ultimate goal.
But this tour isn’t about me or anyone other than The Who, which IS Pete and Roger. I will give them everything I have and the rest is soon to be history.
Thank you for reading this. Now I’m going to go throw up, lol.
UPDATE: On May 26, Starkey released another statement...
NOISE&CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger 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 n 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 ) 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
