Roger Daltrey Calls Zak Starkey’s Departure Remarks ‘Character Assassination’, breaking his silence months after the drummer’s controversial exit from The Who.
Setting the Record Straight
It’s been four months since the series of shows that led to Zak Starkey’s departure from The Who, and Roger Daltrey has now spoken out to clarify his side of the story.
Starkey’s status within the band had been in question since April, following reports that he was fired, later welcomed back, and eventually announced his departure. Starkey insisted he wasn’t “fired” but had instead “retired.”
A spokesman for The Who initially said the band made a “collective decision to part ways with Zak” after their Royal Albert Hall performances earlier this year.
Starkey’s Version of Events
In a June interview with The Telegraph, Starkey described the concerts, saying:
“What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong.”
According to reports, Daltrey—who was recently knighted—halted several songs mid-performance, citing difficulty hearing over the drums. During the rarely-performed track The Song Is Over, Starkey claimed a lack of rehearsal led to Daltrey coming in early.
Soon after, Starkey received a call from band manager Bill Curbishley, delivering the bad news:
“It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you that you won’t be needed from now on. Roger says you dropped some beats.”
While Starkey admitted he may have missed a few beats, the disagreement escalated.
Daltrey Denies Targeting Starkey
Now, in an interview with The Times, Daltrey strongly disputed Starkey’s account.
“An audience can see what’s happening on stage and have a complete misunderstanding of what’s actually going on. It was kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting,” he said.
Daltrey explained that the issue was not with Starkey personally but with the technical setup of their live shows, which use electronic drums fed through in-ear monitors.
“We had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn’t pitch,” Daltrey recalled. “I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at the sound guy 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.”
The Aftermath
Daltrey also addressed why Starkey’s exit became surrounded by confusion for weeks:
“Pete [Townshend] 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 Zak’s reaction was crippling to me.”
Despite the drama, The Who has continued touring. In late July, they performed in Italy as part of The Song Is Over Tour, which is set to arrive in North America later this month.
Daltrey has confirmed, however, that this run marks the end of an era:
“This is certainly the last time you will see us on tour.”
