Zak Starkey, eh? If you’re finding it hard to keep up with the seemingly never-ending tale of his exit from The Who, then you’re not the only one. He was in. Then he was out. Then he rejoined. Before being booted out once more. Or did he quit? Was he sacked? Or should we say ‘retired’.
Not even the man at the centre of this intrigue seems to know. Less than 48 hours after posting a cheery message on Instagram saying that he and Roger Daltrey were “great friends” and that he definitely hadn’t been fired, but had, in fact been “retired”, the drummer has set the record straight once more.
Last night (Wednesday 28 May) he shared a screengrab of the story saying that he had been ‘retired’ with an irate comment: “This is fukin total bollox (sic). I was fired.”
He went on: “I called Roger last week and told him in person I had spent nearly 2 months at my studio in Jamaica completing my studio projects. That I had a mantra of the cosmos single out next week and then I was completely available for the foreseeable future… he was a little surprised but understood. It’s true – I have no plan’s [sic] whatsoever for the fall as I thought I was touring with The Who and my mantra band mates are v busy in oasis and happy Mondays until the new year. So this is simply a load of bollox … Am I fired , retired, deffo not tired as I’m 20 years younger than these guys as they keep saying.”
He then let slip a detail about exactly why he had been fired/ 'retired' back in March: “Dropping two beats on our second show is not a firing offence - I’ve watched the show on tv I can’t see where I dropped them - I looked everywhere - it’s the who ffs if it was perfect it would be so f–king boring.”
The Who themselves haven’t commented on this latest update. With a new drummer confirmed in the shape of Scott Devours, it’s not really their problem any more.
So is this the final twist? Or is there more to come from Starkey’s ever-entertaining Instagram page? Don't touch that dial.
