WHO-turn! Zak’s back in the band

After the apparent sacking of Who drummer Zak Starkey – much publicised a few days ago – the band have now confirmed that Zak “has not been asked to step down from The Who”.

Frontman Roger Daltrey had complained on stage at the band’s recent Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall about the drums, stopping ‘The Song is Over’ saying: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”

It sounded more like a sound mix problem in Daltrey’s ear monitor rather than Starkey doing anything wrong, but an explanation has been posted on The Who’s social accounts, written by Pete Townshend where he says that he “takes some responsibility for the confusion” adding “maybe we didn’t put enough time into the sound checks, giving us problems on stage”.

Zak isn’t let off the hook entirely, with Pete saying he “made a few mistakes and he has apologised”. Townshend also points out that “Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line-up and he has readily agreed”.

In summary, Pete says: “We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies”.

The Who’s next scheduled live dates are in Italy in August. Roger Daltrey is currently playing solo shows in the UK with Scott Devours on drums.

Read the full statement from The Who