It's been over a month since the Who supposedly fired and then re-hired their longtime drummer Zak Starkey, and the whole situation continues to confuse. Earlier this week, Starkey clarified on his social media that Roger Daltrey hadn't fired him; the band simply retired him so that he could work on the handful of other projects he's a part of. But those of us without famous dads know that retiring isn't usually something you do to someone else. And now Starkey, who learned to drum both from his father Ringo Starr and the late Who legend Keith Moon, is calling bullshit.
The Who recently announced their North American farewell tour, while Starkey recently announced that his supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos will have a new song coming out in early June penned by Noel Gallagher. Starkey says he told Daltrey that he'd be available for the Who's farewell tour this fall, as his Mantra Of The Cosmos bandmates Andy Bell and Shaun Ryder will be busy touring with their respective primary bands, Oasis and the Happy Mondays. It sounds like Starkey is accusing Daltrey of looking for excuses to not take him on tour. Here's his wild Instagram caption of the day:
This is fukin total bollox.
I was fired ...
Roger's new word for it is 'retired' to complete my other musical projects.
I called Roger last week and told him in person I had spent nearly 2 months at my studio in Jamaica completing my studio projects. That I had a mantra of the cosmos single out next week and then I was completely available for the foreseeable future... he was a little surprised but understood. It's true - I have no plan's whatsoever for the fall as I thought I was touring with The Who and my mantra band mates are v busy in oasis and happy Mondays until the new year. So this is simply a load of bollox ... Am I fired, retired, deffo not tired as I'm 20 years younger than these guys as they keep saying. Dropping two beats on our second show is not a firing offence - I've watched the show on tv I can't see where I dropped them - I looked everywhere- it's the who ffs if it was perfect it would be so fucking boring...