If you follow The Who closely, you surely know that legendary frontman Roger Daltrey, 81, and the band's former drummer, Zak Starkey, 59, have been at each other's throats lately. Their feud has ramped-up even more now, with Daltrey reportedly saying that Starkey committed "character assassination" against him, per Parade via The Times. Starkey, who is the son of ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, has had a rocky relationship with The Who in recent months. This spring, he was given the boot by the band, brought back, then shown to the door again.
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The Issues Between Starkey and Daltrey Began in March 2025
Per the outlet, The Who was performing a concert at Royal Albert Music Hall. Daltrey was trying to sing "The Song Is Over" but was encountering difficulties. He said, "To sing that song, I do need to hear the key, and I can't. All I've got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can't sing to that. I'm sorry, guys."
People assumed that Daltrey was slamming Starkey but he denied that. "An audience can see what's happening on stage and have a complete misunderstanding of what's actually going on." What probably no one realized is that Daltrey actually hears the drums via a monitor in his ear.
He added, "It is controlled by a guy on the side, and we had so much sub-bass on the sound of the drums that I couldn't pitch. I was pointing to the bass drum and screaming at him because it was like flying a plane without seeing the horizon. So when Zak thought I was having a go at him, I wasn't. That's all that happened."
The Former Drummer Clapped Back at Daltrey
Starkey was miffed anyway. He said per the outlet via The Telegraph, "What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong." Daltrey retorted per the outlet via The Times, "It was kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting."
He continued, "Pete [Townshend] and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player. You can't replace [the late drummer} Keith Moon. We wanted to branch out.and that's all I wanted to say about it. But [Starkey's reaction] was crippling to me."
