Zak Starkey says he wasn’t “retired” from The Who, he was “fired”

“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” – Zak Starkey

May 28, 2025 - 23:35

Zak Starkey says he wasn’t “retired” from The Who, he was “fired”

If you’re having trouble keeping up with the beef between The Who and their now former longtime drummer Zak Starkey, you’re not the only one. In mid-April, The Who said they had parted ways with Starkey, who had played with them since 1996, after a couple rough shows at Royal Albert Hall where frontman Roger Daltrey wasn’t happy in particular. When Starkey gave his side of the story, they all seemed to make up and The Who announced Zak would be back in the band for their farewell tour. Then a month later, Zak was out again with Pete Townshend saying, “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change.”

This week, Zak said he’d had a conversation with Daltrey, who told him he had been “retired” him from The Who so that he could focus on other projects, including his band Mantra of The Cosmos with Ride/Oasis’ Andy Bell, and Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and Bez. Now Zak has issued a new statement, calling the move “fukin total bollox”:

I was fired …
Roger’s new word for it is ‘retired’ to complete my other musical projects .
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 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 .
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 fucking boring …

Starkey, who played drums in Oasis from 2004-2008, will not be on board for the Britpop band’s reunion tour (Joey Waronker will be behind the kit), which will include Andy Bell. The next Mantra of the Cosmos single is due out soon and features Noel Gallagher.

The Who’s ‘The Song Is Over’ North American farewell tour hits NYC’s Madison Square Garden on August 30.

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