Rock groups tend to have epic internal disagreements. Take the Eagles, for example. They fiercely butted heads with each other while making some of the best music of the era. The Beatles also had highly-publicized wrangles that erupted between them. Now, the Who's former drummer, Zak Starkey, is talking about the state of his own rocky, yo-yo relationship with the storied "My Generation" band. Starkey, 60, is the son of legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. He was the Who's drummer for almost 30 years.
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Surprisingly after band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey let Starkey go, he took a somewhat sanguine view of their rock and roll rupture. Per the New York Post, Starkey said, "We're still friends. We still talk all the time."
He then qualified that statement. "But The Who has an addiction to friction, and tempers flare. I'm not the guy with a temper, really. I'm just a guy who won't be walked all over, and I don't think that I should be treated unfairly and not be able to speak up."
What Happened Between Starkey and the Who
According to the outlet, Starkey was canned by the Who last spring then brought back to their ranks again. Then the following month, he was tossed out again. The band was on the verge of their ballyhooed farewell tour that would take them to Canada and the United States.
Starkey contended that their break originated because of a dust-up he had with Daltrey. The two reportedly had a disagreement about a performance of the band's hit, "The Song Is Over" during a concert in London in March.
He and the Band Saw Things Differently
He said, "I got fired. I was asked to make a public statement apologizing for dropping beats, which I did, and I was rehired." He also asserted that Townshend and Daltrey leaned on him to issue a statement saying he departed the Who of his own accord after his second dismissal from the band. Starkey outright balked at that.
"So I said nothing. Then they made a statement saying I'd moved on, inferring I'd quit. So I went back and said, 'Look, I didn't [expletive] quit, you fired me. That's a lie, and I'm not going to [expletive] lie.'"
Starkey Hinted That He Was Rehired a Third Time and Fired Yet Again
He claimed, "A little bit more time went by, and I spoke to Roger a few times, and then he basically said don't take your drums from our storage facility because we probably want you back. Then a couple of days later, an article came out in the Telegraph, which I had done a few weeks before, and I got fired, again, the next day."
His Problems With the Who Haven't Soured Him on Music
Starkey has an upcoming one-man show in New York on February 20 at the Gramercy Theatre. Despite his drama with the Who, he still loves the profession he's in. "Music's great, isn't it? If you love music, it's not a job. It's more like a blessing. I've never had a gig that I'd call a job, really."
