The Who fire drummer Zak Starkey again: “The time has come for a change”

The Who’s Pete Townshend has confirmed that drummer Zak Starkey is no longer in the band, saying “the time has come for a change”.

• READ MORE: Pete Townshend tells us about his new Quadrophenia ballet and the future of The Who

It comes just weeks after a series of contradictory reports emerged about Starkey’s status with the legendary rock band – the drummer appeared to publicly confirm in April that he had been let go, only for Townshend to later deny it.

Now, though, ahead of their farewell North American tour later this year, it would seem that the final decision has been made that Starkey and the band have parted ways for good.

In a post on Instagram on Sunday (May 18), the guitarist wrote: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”

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Townshend went on to say: “Scott Devours, who has worked with Roger’s solo band, will join The Who for our final shows. Please welcome him.”

Starkey – who is the son of Ringo Starr – had been the full-time sticksman for The Who since 1996, but after a series of shows at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust earlier this year, frictions between him and the rest of the band appeared to emerge.

Townshend addressed the rumours in an April post, saying there had been “some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with”, but did say at the time that they had been “aired happily”.

Referring to the four Royal Albert Hall shows in March, he added that he and frontman Roger Daltrey had informed Starkey that they wanted him to “tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line-up”, which he said at the time the drummer had “readily agreed” to do.

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He also noted that he felt Starkey “made a few mistakes” during the shows, for which he had apologised. “It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.”

After the initial reports emerged of his departure from the band in April, Starkey said he was “surprised and saddened” by the news, adding he was “very proud of my thirty years with The Who” and that filling the shoes of Keith Moon had been “the biggest honour”.

The Who announced their ‘The Song Is Over North America Farewell Tour’ earlier this month, consisting of 16 shows across the continent in August and September. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.

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Starkey suffered a blood clot in his leg earlier this year, leading his supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos – also including Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and Bez as well as Oasis’ Andy Bell – to have to cancel a secret gig in Soho. He has since said he is “completely healed” and the health scare “does not affect my drumming”.

Back in August 2024, Townshend said that although he doesn’t “know what’s gonna happen with The Who”, he was hoping that he and Daltrey “can find some common ground and find some way to work again”.

Before then, he told NME that he was “pretty sure” there would be more Who shows, although hopes of an album were slim. “The story of the end of The Who is gonna be when either Roger or I drop dead or can’t function anymore on the stage,” he said. “If there was a need or a place for a Who album, could I write the songs for it within six weeks? Of course I fucking could, it’s a piece of cake… The problem is I don’t think Roger wants to do it again. For me it would be a joy because I love writing songs.”

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