The Who have once again parted ways with drummer Zak Starkey ahead of their farewell tour, as confirmed by guitarist Pete Townshend on Sunday.
“After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change,” Townshend wrote on his official Instagram. “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”
The announcement comes just one month after a confusing sequence of events where Starkey was initially fired and then reinstated within a week. This latest development appears to be the final decision on the matter.
Starkey responded to Townshend’s post, clarifying his side of the story: “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.”
The drummer, who has been with the band for three decades, added: “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.”
Speculation about tensions within the band began after their performances at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March for the Teenage Cancer Trust charity shows, with rumours suggesting dissatisfaction with Starkey’s playing. When initially announcing his departure in mid-April, a band representative stated, “The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall.”
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At that time, Starkey revealed to Rolling Stone he had suffered “a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf” in January, though he maintained this had “completely healed” and did not affect his performance.
Just three days after the initial announcement of his departure, Townshend had reversed course, declaring “News Flash! Who back Zak!” and claiming there had been “communication issues, personal and private on all sides” that had been addressed.
The band has announced that Scott Devours, who has previously worked with Roger Daltrey’s solo band, will replace Starkey for their North American farewell tour, ‘The Song Is Over’.
