Pete Townshend Breaks Silence on Zak Starkey's Departure From The Who

Pete Townshend has finally spoken clearly about what happened between The Who and longtime drummer Zak Starkey — and he's not sugarcoating it.

Pete Townshend recently addressed the confusion surrounding the band's split with Zak Starkey, admitting in an interview that the situation has been messy.

Back in April, The Who — mainly Townshend and lead singer Roger Daltrey — announced they had made a joint decision to part ways with Starkey after nearly 30 years. But things quickly got confusing.

According to RollingStone, just three days later, Townshend suggested they had changed their minds, saying, "News flash! Who back Zak!" A month later, it was officially confirmed that Zak Starkey was no longer part of the band..

Starkey then revealed that Daltrey had "retired" him before the start of their upcoming farewell tour, "The Song Is Over."

The trouble seems to have started at a charity show in March at London's Royal Albert Hall. Starkey claimed that Daltrey came in early during a song and then blamed it on the drums being too loud. "He just got lost," Starkey said in an interview. "Then it became this big thing online."

Townshend Says Sound Issues Sparked Who Drummer Fallout

Townshend remembers it differently. "I couldn't see anything wrong," he told iNews. "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."

He added that the incident even cost him his longtime sound engineer.

Townshend explained that both he and Daltrey were involved in the decision regarding Starkey's departure, though things didn't go as smoothly as planned, MusicNews said.

He noted that the situation became more complicated than expected and admitted it's been tough for Daltrey, even joking that he needs to watch what he says to avoid tension within the band.

It's especially complicated because it was Daltrey who originally brought Starkey into the band. "I didn't invite him in, right? Roger invited him," Townshend pointed out. "But I will miss Zak terribly."

Moving forward, drummer Scott Devours — who has played with Daltrey in his solo band — will take over the drum seat for The Who's final tour. As for Townshend, he has mixed feelings about the farewell.

"I don't know whether I've been up for doing anything with The Who since 1973," he said, only half-joking. "But I am looking forward to it... I hope we can still explore other things."

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