Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey, clarifies the truth about his second firing from The Who
From fired to retired.
Drummer Zak Starkey posted a statement on Instagram Monday clearing up the circumstances surrounding his latest exit from The Who.
Starkey, 59, claimed that bandmate Roger Daltrey told him he wasn’t “fired” from the group for a second time, but rather “retired” and free to work on his own projects.
“NOISE&CONFUSION!!!! I had a great phone chat with Roger at the end of last week which truly confused both of us!!!” Starkey wrote.
“Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work on my own projects,” Starkey shared. “I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ) I was completely available for the foreseeable future….Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there.”
Starkey insisted that he and Daltrey, 81, are “on good terms and great friends as we have always been.”
“Gotta love these guys,” the musician added. “As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!’ XXX.”
Starkey, who is the son of Beatles legend Ringo Starr, joined The Who in 1996.
He was fired from the band for the first time last month following his performance during the group’s two charity shows for Teenage Cancer Trust at London’s Royal Albert Hall in late March.
Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend were allegedly “upset” with Starkey over the gigs.
Starkey spoke out about his blindsided departure, revealing that he “suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf” in January.
Source: nypost.com/Eric Todisco
