The Who drummer Zak Starkey fired for second time: 'Time for a change'

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Zak Starkey’s tenure with The Who has come to an end for a second time in less than a month.

Just weeks after he was fired and then rehired by the British rockers ahead of their farewell tour, the veteran drummer has been dumped again, this time presumably for good.

“After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change,” co-founder and lead guitarist Pete Townshend, 80, wrote in an Instagram message. “A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”

Townshend announced that drummer Scott Devours, who has also played with lead singer Roger Daltrey on his solo shows, will replace Starkey.

Starkey was turfed last month after a representative for the band told various media outlets, including Rolling Stone and The Guardian, that The Who “made a collective decision to part ways with” Starkey after they were unhappy with his playing during a charity gig at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

“After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night,” the drummer shared in a statement with Rolling Stone, “but what can you do?”

But just days after unceremoniously firing Starkey, who is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, The Who brought him back.

“News Flash! Who Backs Zak!” Townshend wrote in an Instagram post on the band’s official page.

“He’s not being asked to step down from The Who. There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily,” Townshend added. “Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral lineup and he has readily agreed.”

In his initial message, Townshend said Starkey’s firing “blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen,” but he pledged they would “move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.” 

But in a message attributed to both Daltrey and Townshend, the band said that they’d had another change of heart and were freeing Starkey up to permanently pursue other projects as they cut ties with him for a second time.

“The Who are heading for retirement, whereas Zak is 20yrs younger and has a great future with his new band and other exciting projects,” Daltrey and Townshend wrote. “He needs to devote all his energy into making it all a success. We both wish him all the luck in the world.”

But Starkey said the split wasn’t as amicable as Townshend and Daltrey were making it sound.

“I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit The Who to pursue my other musical endeavours,” Starkey, 59, wrote in an Instagram post. “This would be a lie.”

Starkey added that deciding to quit the band “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.”

The longtime musician acknowledged he has other projects on the go, but said that he has juggled his commitments to The Who with his other projects ever since joining the band in 1996.

“None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them. The lie is or would have been that I quit The Who – I didn’t. I love The Who and everyone in it,” Starkey wrote.

mdaniell@postmedia.com