Pete Townshend, a co-founder of The Who shared in a public interview his confusion over the dismissal of drummer Zak Starkey, which has unfolded publicly over the past few months according to Consequence. Starkey, who had been behind the drum kit for years, was initially let go from the group in April. Days later, he was reinstated only to be dismissed once again in May and ultimately replaced by drummer Scott Devour.  Townshend originally commented on Starkey’s temporary return, attributing the problems to “communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.” 

However, following the second and seemingly final departure, Starkey gave his version of events, stating that Roger Daltrey took issue with him allegedly missing beats during a London show. In response to the critique, Starkey watched the performance and in an interview with The Telegraph claimed he couldn’t find any dropped beats. Townshend, in a recent interview, echoed that sentiment. “I couldn’t see anything wrong,” he said. “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.”

“I think Roger just got lost. 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,” Townshend said. “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.”

He also pointed out that Starkey wasn’t his choice to begin with. “I didn’t invite him in, right? Roger invited him,” Townshend explained. “And at that time, I don’t know quite why he chose Zak, but Zak is another Keith Moon. He comes with real, real bonuses and real, real difficulties.” Although both Townshend and Starkey have shared their perspectives, Roger Daltrey has yet to publicly clarify his reasoning. In other news, The Who are gearing up for what they’re calling their “truly grand finale” tour across North America this August.