LONDON (AP) — Four months after the shows that led to Zak Starkey’s departure from The Who, Roger Daltrey is attempting to set the record straight.
Starkey and The Who have been in and out of the spotlight since April, following reports of Starkey’s departure from the group. Initially, it was said that Starkey had been fired but later clarified that he “retired.”
A spokesman for The Who initially stated, “The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” referring to two performances the previous month.
In a June interview, Starkey shared his perspective on the events at the Royal Albert Hall, telling The Telegraph, “What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong.”
Reports from those shows indicated that Daltrey, recently knighted, stopped several songs mid-performance due to difficulty hearing the band over the drums. Starkey recalled that during the rarely-performed “The Song is Over,” a lack of rehearsal caused Daltrey to “come in a bar early.”
Band manager Bill Curbishley then informed Starkey of his departure. “He says, ‘It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you,’ Starkey remembered. ‘That you won’t be needed from now on. Roger says you dropped some beats."”
Although Starkey admitted to dropping beats, Daltrey has since tried to clarify the situation in an interview with The Times. “An audience can see what’s happening on stage and have a complete misunderstanding of what’s actually going on,” he said, addressing the Royal Albert Hall gigs and Starkey’s comments. “It was kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting.”
Daltrey explained that the issues stemmed from the technical setup of The Who’s live show, which uses electronic drums through in-ear monitors. “It is controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn’t pitch,” Daltrey said. “I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at him because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon. So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn’t. That’s all that happened.”
Daltrey also touched on the confusion surrounding Starkey’s status with the band. “Pete [Townshend] and I retain the right to be The Who,” he explained. “Everyone else is a session player. You can’t replace Keith Moon. We wanted to branch out and that’s all I want to say about it. But [Starkey’s reaction] was crippling to me.”
In late July, The Who performed in Italy as part of their “The Song Is Over” tour, which will reach North America later this month. “This is certainly the last time you will see us on tour,” Daltrey confirmed to The Times.