Pete Townshend is not sure what’s going on with The Who and the ongoing riff between the band and former drummer Zak Starkey. To put it plainly, “it’s been a mess.”
In an interview with i Paper, Townshend, 80, spoke from his perspective about the turbulent set of events leading to Starkey’s departure from the band after over 30 years. The drummer, 59, was first fired from the band on April 17, following a dispute with lead singer Roger Daltrey over the loudness of the drumming after they played “The Song Is Over” (1971) during their March 30 show at Royal Albert Hall.
Townshend had noted two days after the drummer’s dismissal that he was back in the band and chalked up the points of contention to “communication issues.” On May 18th, The Who noted they had let go of Starkey for a second time ahead of their farewell tour.
The guitarist and songwriter stated that, from his standpoint, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary during the Royal Albert Hall show.
“I couldn’t see anything wrong, said Townshend. “What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I’ve lost my sound man as a result.”
Speaking further about the performance, Townshend explained that Daltrey may have been a bit overzealous in firing the drummer.
“I think Roger just got lost, said the guitarist. “Roger’s finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand.”
As one might expect, Starkey has not been pleased with his dismissal. He released his own statement saying, “I love the who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me.”
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Murjani Rawls may be reached at mrawls@njadvancemedia.com