The Who Bring Back Drummer Zak Starkey Days After Parting Ways (2025)

Only a few days ago, The Who announced they were parting ways with Ringo Starr’s son, Zak Starkey, who has been their drummer since 1996. But that didn’t last too long.

On Saturday, it was announced that Starkey was now back in: “News Flash! Who Back Zak! He’s not being asked to step down from The Who,” read a post by The Who’s guitarist-songwriter, Pete Townshend posted on the band’s official website, as well as on his Instagram.

“There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily. Roger and I would like Zak to tighten up his latest evolved drumming style to accommodate our non-orchestral line up and he has readily agreed. I take responsibility for some of the confusion,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, it was reported that the band and Starkey were going separate ways following criticism of Starkey’s performance at the Royal Albert Hall not being well received. Starkey shared a statement with The Hollywood Reporter about how he was “very proud” of his near thirty years with The Who. “I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?,” he shared.

Townshend addressed the show’s performance in his statement on the band’s website. “Our TCT shows at the Royal Albert Hall were a little tricky for me. I thought that four and a half weeks would be enough time to recover completely from having a complete knee replacement. (Why did I ever think I could land on my knees?) Wrong!,” he wrote. “Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with. Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer.”

He continued, “We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen. It’s over. We move forward now with optimism and fire in our bellies.”