Cliff Notes – Moment Roger Daltrey halts show and kicks off at The Who drummer weeks before sacking
- The Who have parted ways with drummer Zak Starkey after 29 years, following frustrations during their recent Royal Albert Hall performances.
- Lead singer Roger Daltrey expressed dissatisfaction with the sound quality, leading to multiple interruptions during the concert, including a halt during “The Song Is Over.”
- Starkey hinted at Daltrey’s unhappiness with his drumming on social media just days before the announcement, suggesting tensions within the band.
Roger Daltrey halts show and kicks off at The Who drummer
Yesterday, news came that The Who have sacked their drummer Zak Starkey following their Royal Albert Hall gigs, in which lead singer Roger Daltrey got visibly frustrated at the former Oasis drummer.
Zak, 59, who is godson to the late The Who drummer Keith Moon and son of Sir Ringo Starr, has drummed with the My Generation rockers for 29 years.
A spokesperson for The Who announced yesterday: ‘The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.’
Why did The Who sack Zak?
It came after a tumultuous gig at the Royal Albert Hall gig, which was marred from stoppages throughout, with Daltrey complaining of not being able to hear the music properly.
At one point in Can You See The Real Me, Daltrey stopped singing and guitarist Pete Townshend was forced to fill in from him.
Roger held his head in his hand in exasperation before stopping the song. He said: ‘We’ve got a big problem up here. I can sing to some things, but I can’t sing to that f***ing racket.”
Roger then said he couldn’t hear properly, and asked Townshend if he was experiencing the same.
‘The wedges just need pushing up,’ said Townshend, asking to ‘make the drums louder, please’. But later on in the gig it seemed Daltrey was complaining of the drums being too loud.
After the problems persisted, on the final track, the emotional The Song Is Over, Roger stopped the concert, explaining: ‘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.’
Zak suggested on his social media page two days ago that lead singer Daltrey was ‘unhappy’ with his recent performances at the Royal Albert Hall.
Although largely misspelt, Zak seemed to suggest in the post that they were going to ‘Zak [or sack] the drummer’ after accusing him of ‘overplaying’ at the Teenage Cancer Trust shows.
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A source told The Mirror the decision has upset Zak.
They said: ‘It’s a little acrimonious to say the least.’