Music News
Zak Starkey is officially back in The Who.
On Saturday (April 19), the band’s legendary guitarist Pete Townshend took to social media to announce that Starkey — Ringo Starr’s son and the iconic group’s drummer for nearly three decades — had been reinstated after what he described as “communication issues.”
“News Flash! Who Backs Zak! He’s not being asked to step down from The Who,” Townshend wrote on The Who’s Instagram account. “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”
The announcement comes just days after Starkey addressed rumors of his firing, reportedly sparked by singer Roger Daltrey’s dissatisfaction with Starkey’s performance during a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit show at London’s Royal Albert Hall in late March.
Townshend elaborated on the situation in his post, saying, “Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed. I take responsibility for some of the confusion. Our TCT shows at the Royal Albert Hall were a little tricky for me. I thought that four and a half weeks would be enough time to recover completely from having a complete knee replacement. (Why did I ever think I could land on my knees?) Wrong!”
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He continued, “Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with. Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer. We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.”
Townshend also addressed speculation that Daltrey’s solo drummer, Scott Devours, might replace Starkey in The Who.
“As for Roger, fans can enjoy his forthcoming solo shows with his fabulous drummer, Scott Devours, who it was rumoured might replace Zak in The Who and has always been supportive of the band,” Townshend wrote. “I owe Scott an apology for not crushing that rumour before it spread. He has been hurt by this. I promise to buy him a very long drink and give him a hug.”
Starkey later shared Townshend’s post on his own Instagram, adding, “V grateful to be a part of the who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx. Repost from @officialthewho.”
The Who’s Royal Albert Hall charity shows on March 18 and 20 became a flashpoint after Metro reported that Daltrey grew frustrated during the set and halted several songs, citing issues hearing the band over Starkey’s drumming.
In an April 16 statement to People, Starkey pushed back, expressing surprise that anyone would have a problem with his performance.
“After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night,” the drummer said. “But what can you do?” He also revealed that he had suffered a “serious medical emergency” in January, involving blood clots in his right calf. “This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running,” Starkey noted.
Starkey has been a central figure in The Who’s live lineup since 1996, when he joined the band for their reunion tour, performing their 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia in its entirety.
Lady Gaga didn’t let a technical hiccup put a damper on her Coachella 2025 performance. During her headlining set on the second weekend of the Indio, Calif., festival on Friday (April 18), the 39-year-old pop icon’s microphone began to cut out during just the second song of her set, “Abracadabra.” But ever the professional, Gaga […]
MGM+ television series Godfather of Harlem, starring Forest Whitaker as Harlem gangster Bumpy Johnson during his later years in the 1960s, made its return earlier this week for its fourth and final season. And with that comes another original soundtrack curated by Swizz Beatz. The lead single features Swizz teaming up with barbarians (shout to […]
When Chappell Roan was asked to name her “gay music video Holy Trinity,” she instantly rose to the challenge.
The pop singer/songwriter recently sat down — or, rather, stood up — for a Gaydar interview with Anania, who asked Roan to pick her big three gay music videos of all time.
“‘Alejandro,’ ‘She Wolf,’ ‘Beautiful Liar,’” Roan rattled off, choosing Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster visual, plus two separate Shakira music videos: the solo “She Wolf” and her epic Beyoncé team-up “Beautiful Liar.”
Roan and Anania even tried to mimic Shak & Bey’s hypnotic hip motions from the video, but the host had some excuses for why they couldn’t quite match the moves. “I could do it,” Anania says, “but the bones, they chilled up.” Roan laughs, “Your arthritis!” to which Anania responds, “Absolutely, right, it’s acting up today.”
In the Gaydar social series, Anania asks 20 questions of guests to figure out whether they’re “gay, straight or a homophobe.” In the end, Anania concludes, “I can confirm you’re not straight, so I think you’re gay.”
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“Wow! Thank you!” Roan responds with a cheeky smile to end the video.
Roan is currently promoting her latest country/pop single “The Giver,” which has topped the Hot Country Songs chart and has risen as high as No. 5 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. There’s no word yet whether “The Giver” will be part of Roan’s next album, the follow-up to her 2023 debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Watch Roan name her own personal holy trinity and the full interview below:
This Tuesday (April 15), hundreds of people from across the music industry gathered in Hollywood for the second annual Music Sustainability Summit.
Organized by the Music Sustainability Alliance (MSA), the event again brought together thought-leaders and innovators from the live music, labels, waste management, merch, food, design and production sectors. Panels and breakout sessions — curated around the event’s “progress through collaboration” theme — focused on the challenges and, more crucially, the many solutions that currently exist and can be implemented at scale as the industry takes on the ongoing climate crisis that’s affecting touring, events, the supply chain and the health and wellness of artists, teams, fans and the Earth itself.
“Sustainability is good for the planet and it’s good for business, and it’s being led by the people in this room,” MSA CEO/co-founder Amy Morrison said at the start of the day, “but we’re not done. There’s still more to learn, more to share and more to do. And let’s be honest, this work is only getting more important as some political forces pull back from climate commitments and even try to undermine environmental progress. It’s falling on industries like ours to step up and lead.”
The day began with a stirring performance from singer and environmental activist Antonique Smith and a rousing conversation with activist Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr., who emphasized the importance of artists and not just engaging in performative activism, but truly engaging with the people who are feeling the very real effects of the climate crisis. “You have to be amongst the people,” Yearwood Jr. told the rapt crowd. “Not only will it make you a better artist, but you will transform yourself by being with the people and feeling the crisis. It will allow you to create art that is divine, that is otherworldly. You will begin to create something that isn’t just pain and depression, but something that could actually change and save this world.
The day of conversations went on to provide huge insights on the many ways the music industry can transition to greater sustainability and do its part in humanity’s greatest challenge, via panel topics that included live music emissions in the U.S. and U.K., why paying attention to menus at venues at events is important, the evolving clean energy sector, strategies that are being used in film, sports and live theater, sustainability in contracts and more.
Here are five things we learned from the conference.
The Music Industry Could Be Greener Through More Strategic Planning
Post Malone’s ex-fiancée, Hee Sung “Jamie” Park, has filed a court petition seeking sole physical custody of their two-year-old daughter. Park is filing for primary physical custody of the ex-couple’s daughter — named in court documents as “DDP” with a birthdate of May 26, 2022 — while allowing Post visitation rights, in addition to joint […]
This Gunna and Young Thug situation isn’t over by a long shot. The two labelmates have had a complicated relationship in the public eye since Gunna decided to take an Alford Plea in 2022 just as YSL’s lengthy RICO trial was getting started. Now we can add another chapter to the drama. Fans have noticed […]
After getting mixed up by the general public for years, one particularly hilarious mixup prompted Michelle Williams and Michelle Williams to finally link up.
In a video posted Thursday (April 17) by the first Williams — as in, the superstar previously in the Beyoncé-led girl group Destiny’s Child — she sits backstage after a performance of her Broadway show Death Becomes Her, telling the camera, “We had an amazing show tonight!”
She then pulls out a stack of photos of the other Williams — aka the five-time Oscar-nominated actress who’s starred in everything from Brokeback Mountain to My Week With Marilyn — that a fan had mistakenly mailed her in the hopes of getting an autograph weeks prior. Turning the camera, the first Williams reveals that the second Williams is sitting there beside her, and the former asks the latter to sign the pictures of herself.
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“Who should I make it out to?” the Blue Valentine star says, to which the “Journey to Freedom” singer replies giddily, “Would you make them out to meee?”
“#FINALLY,” reads the video’s caption.
The sweet meetup comes a little over a month after the singer posted a video of herself reading aloud a letter from a fan, featuring a hilarious twist at the end. “‘Dear Michelle Williams, I hope this letter finds you in great spirits,’” she recited in the March clip. “‘My name is Philip, and I have been an avid fan of your incredible performances in both film and theater.’”
“‘Your work in movies like Blue Valentine, Manchester by the Sea or The Greatest Showman has deeply moved me and many others, showcasing your exceptional talent,’” she continued at the time. “‘I am writing to kindly ask if you would consider signing the enclosed photos I have of you. Having your autograph would mean so much for me and my daughter, as we admire your artistry.’”
That’s when the first Williams showed the photos Philip had sent: snapshots of the second Williams in various movies. “Philip, thank you so much,” she said, laughing. “Thank you, Philip. Thank you so much. Absolutely brilliant. Her hair is fabulous.”
Though the moment was certainly memorable, Philip is far from the first person to get the two Michelle Williamses switched around. With both women working in the entertainment industry since the 1990s, countless others have gotten their identical names confused over the years.
The “Unexpected” artist has been starring in Death Becomes Her since the show opened in New York City in November. On the very first night of performances, her former bandmates Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland came out to Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to cheer her on. Film star Michelle is currently promoting her Hulu miniseries Dying for Sex.
See Michelle Williams Squared meet up below.
Good Friday might be a religious holiday, but it also aptly describes the quality batch of new songs that dropped at the end of this week. The final New Music Friday before Easter 2025 found several major stars dropping fresh new tracks, including Lana Del Rey, who rings in the spring holiday with a gorgeous […]
PinkPantheress announced Friday (April 18) that she’ll release her new single “Stateside” next Friday, April 25. She partnered with [untitled], which describes itself as “a sacred place for your work-in-progress music,” to tease a snippet of the track while depicting “an accurate representation of how me and my friends listen to this song,” the English […]