Meet the new drummer … not the same as the old drummer. The Who has fired Zak Starkey again, ahead of the band’s farewell tour, and this time, it appears to be permanent.
The Who’s Pete Townshend wrote Sunday on Instagram, “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”
He then revealed Starkey’s replacement: “Scott Devours who has worked with Roger’s solo band will join the Who for our Final shows. Please welcome him.”
Starkey then made it clear that he was not okay with this turn of events. The drummer, son of Ringo Starr, wrote on Instagram, “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endeavors this would be a lie. 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 (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out’ like a bleedin’ squeezebox,” he continued.
Starkey then noted that in between manning the kit for The Who, he’d played with many other acts, including Johnny Marr and Oasis. “None of this has ever interfered with The Who and was never a problem for them,” Starkey pointed out. “The lie is or would have been that I quit the who- i didn’t. I love the who and everyone in it.”
As previously reported, Zak was fired from The Who in April but was then rehired three days later.
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