Zak Starkey Says He Turned Down Oasis Reunion Shows Before Being Fired by The Who

Zak Starkey has added another chapter to his ongoing saga with The Who, claiming that his firing occurred after turning down the opportunity to tour with a reformed Oasis.

For those having trouble keeping up with the current state of Starkey’s drumming gigs, trouble first began in April when a spokesman for The Who claimed that “the band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall,” referring to a pair of gigs the month prior. 

Starkey later issued a statement noting he was “surprised and saddened” by the news, though guitarist Pete Townshend later claimed Starkey was back in the band following the resolution of “communication issues.” 

In May, however, Townshend seemingly walked back this announcement, taking to social media to announce, “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change,” and welcomed Scott Devours to the lineup for their final shows.

In an attempt to clarify the situation, Starkey claimed just a week later that he hadn’t been “fired” from the band, but rather “‘retired’ to work [on] my own projects.”

Now in a new interview with The Telegraph, Starkey has provided some further insight into the circumstances that led to his leaving The Who. “What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong,” Starkey explained.

According to a report from The Who’s Royal Albert Hall shows, newly knighted vocalist Roger Daltrey had stopped several songs mid-performance, citing difficulty hearing the band over the drums. Per Starkey’s recollection, the group played the rarely-performed “The Song is Over,” and a lack of rehearsal meant that Daltrey “came in a bar early.”

The result was a call from band manager Bill Curbishley who shared the bad news with Starkey. “He says, ‘It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you’,” Starkey remembers. “‘That you won’t be needed from now on. Roger says you dropped some beats.’”

Forced to admit he had indeed dropped some beats, Starkey says he was welcomed back to the group, only for the announcement of his retirement to be made soon after. “I don’t blame anyone. I blame The Who because they’re unpredictable, aggressive and f–ing insane,” Starkey explains. 

However, the drummer also revealed that a major issue surrounding his axing relates to a role behind the kit with Oasis. Despite having been a member of The Who since 1996, he also served as a touring drummer for Oasis between 2004 and 2008.

Per his latest interview, Starkey claims that he had in fact turned down the position of drumming for the reunited Manchester group due to his commitments with The Who. Instead, Starkey’s position in Oasis will be filled by the prolific Joey Waronker. 

“He’s the best and we’re lucky to have him,” Liam Gallagher recently said of Waronker’s addition. “I’ve enjoyed all our drummers but this guy is special.”

Despite Starkey’s other focus being Mantra of the Cosmos (a supergroup of sorts featuring members of Happy Mondays and Oasis’ Andy Bell), its members’ touring commitments means he’s likely being left with a clear schedule in 2025.

However, Starkey did close by noting he’d recently spoken to Daltrey, who reportedly told him, “‘Don’t take your drums out of [The Who’s] warehouse yet in case we need you.’”