Only a few days ago, the Who were one of the calmest and closed-off groups in rock and roll. The band had been together, on and off, for 60 years. They knew the drill, and for the most part, unless there were extenuating circumstances, the main parties remained in the group.
This included Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, who had been a part of the Who for the last 29 years. He took over long-term for iconic drummer Keith Moon. Starkey might not be the greatest drummer ever, but he certainly has not been a bad one.
That was until vocalist Roger Daltrey got miffed at the band for himself going off track at a March 30 benefit concert. The gig was at London's Royal Albert Hall and the charity was Teenage Cancer Trust. Daltrey has been the curator for the charity for a long time, and a patron for just as long. In other words, he had an emotional tie to how the band performed.
The Who didn't seem to fire their drummer after all
During the live debut of a 1971 tune called "The Song Is Over," Daltrey halted the performance, saying he couldn't hear the key and implied that the drums were too loud or aggressive. The singer told the audience, "...to sing that song, I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. There’s no pitch here. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry, guys."
Less than a month later, the Who, and Daltrey specifically, seemed to have fired Starkey. In a since-deleted post on social media, Starkey apologized quite snarkily for "dropping a few beats" and said it would not happen again. As it turns out, someone jumped to conclusions, and Starkey is still a member of the band.
Guitarist Pete Townshend issued a statement saying he and Daltrey would like Starkey to play a bit more concisely, but noted that the band was a family and would remain as they have for the last couple of decades.
The shame, of course, is that the Who is unlikely to do a huge tour again. This means these one-off concerts might suffer the same issues. At least, Starkey will still be a part of it.