Anti-nepo baby sentiment has officially gone too far: the Who have reportedly fired longtime drummer Zak Starkey, son of Ringo Starr, for "overplaying" during his performances for a run of four benefit shows in London, UK, last month.
Yesterday (April 15), a spokesperson for the band said in a statement that the group had "made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future."
UPDATE (4/21, 9:20 a.m. ET: According to a statement posted to the Who's website, Starkey's role in the band has now been reinstated.
"He's not being asked to step down from the Who," Pete Townshend wrote over the weekend, citing personal "communication issues" that have apparently now been dealt with.
Townshend explained, "Roger [Daltrey] 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." The guitarist added that he takes responsibility for some of the confusion, saying he struggled during those shows after having falsely thought he would be able to recover from his knee replacement beforehand.
"Maybe we didn't put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage," Townshend continued. "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 apologized. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer. 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."
Starkey shared the statement on Instagram, adding, "V grateful to be a part of the who family [sic] Thanks Roger and Pete xx."
UPDATE (4/16, 1:53 p.m. ET): Starkey has now publicly commented on his termination from the Who.
"I'm very proud of my near thirty years with The Who," Starkey wrote in a statement shared by Rolling Stone. "Filling the shoes of my Godfather, 'uncle Keith,' has been the biggest honour and I remain their biggest fan. They've been like family to me. In January, I suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf. This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running."
"After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I'm surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do?" he continued. "I plan to take some much needed time off with my family, and focus on the release of Domino Bones by Mantra of the Cosmos with Noel Gallagher in May and finishing my autobiography written solely by me. Twenty-nine years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best."
However, it seems like Starkey's father got ahead of the news cycle and made a barely intelligible, all-caps Instagram post earlier this week, posting a photo of his son and Roger Daltrey with "The Daily Who Breaking News" written at the top of the image. In Starr's caption, he indicated that Starkey is facing "formal charges of overplaying."
The Beatle wrote, "HEARD TODAY FROM INSIDE SOURCE WITHIN WHOSE HORSES NOSE THAT TOGER DAKTREY [sic] LEAD SINGER AND PRINCIPAL SONGWRITER OF THE GROUP UNHAPPY WITH ZAK THE DRUMMER'S PERFORMANCE AT THE ALBERT HALL A FEW WEEKS AGO IS BRINGING FORMAL CHARGES OF OVERPLAYING AND IS LITERALLY GOING TO ZAK THE DRUMMER AND BRING ON A RESERVE FROM 'THE BURWASH CARWASH SKIFFLE 'N' TICKLE GLEE CLUB HARMONY WITHOUT EMPATHY ALLSTARS' THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY WHOSE LONG TIME MANAGER WILLYA YOUWONTYOUKNOW."
Starkey grew up spending a lot of time with the Who's most well-known drummer, Keith Moon — his godfather, who even gave him his first drum kit at the age of eight. After Moon's death in 1978, he was replaced in the band's lineup by Kenney Jones, another of Starr's close friends who had previously claimed to have "virtually taught" Starkey how to drum.
Starkey began performing with the Who in 1996. According to Pete Townshend, the band had invited the drummer to be a permanent member, but he opted to just be their touring timekeeper instead. Townshend just underwent a knee replacement, while Daltrey has recently claimed to be going blind and deaf — so it's hard to say if the Who have much of a touring future ahead of them at this point anyway.