This year’s biggest musical soap opera – Zak Starkey’s prolonged sacking from the Who – goes on and on and on.
So...the latest. Roger Daltrey gave an interview to The Times earlier this week in which he described the drummer’s comments about him at the fateful Albert Hall gig way back in March (five months ago!) as "kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting.” Starkey had said that it was Daltrey who had messed up at that show, missing the intro to The Song Is Over and not him.
Now, Starkey has replied, via a lengthy screed on Instagram. He wrote: “I didn’t make any nasty comments about Roger when I got fired. I think it’s [Daltrey’s accusation of ‘character assassination’] about the public comments about Roger on my Instagram - which I have taken down.”
“I didn’t think Roger was having a go at me on stage because he was shouting into a special microphone that he only uses to communicate with the sound guy. There was no conflict and no argument before the show or after as I was in my car on my way home before Pete and Roger had finished the last song Tea and Theatre, which is an acoustic duet and doesn’t feature any of the band.
“I thought the gig was ok,” the drummer continued. “I had no idea about getting fired or any problems at all until a week after the show. So either The Times misunderstood or… confusion reigns O’er me and everyone else! I thought this had blown over. The Who has a new drummer - they’ve played some shows they’re about to do their farewell tour… so this is old news and it’s completely wrong.
“When I first saw it [The Times interview] I was gonna leave it but now it’s been picked up by every outlet in the cosmos it’s a bit annoying cos it’s bollox. I love Roger and he’s a fucking amazing singer - we go back too long for grudges.”
So... is that it? Or will we still be here at Christmas?
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.