Zak Starkey recently revealed that his commitment to the Who meant he refused to be part of the Oasis reunion, only to wind up without either position.
The Who fired the son of Ringo Starr in April after vocalist Roger Daltrey was unhappy with his performance of “The Song Is Over” at a show in London. However, he was reinstated shortly afterwards, with Pete Townshend saying there had been a communication breakdown. But then again he was dismissed for a second time, and replaced by Scott Devours.
In a new interview with the Telegraph, Starkey stated that it was all part of the Who’s eternally unstable world, and that Daltrey had suggested he might be asked back again.
Starkey was a touring member of Oasis from 2004 to 2008, and his new musical project, Mantra of the Cosmos, includes input from Noel Gallagher. When asked if he’d have been part of the reunion if he hadn’t been in the Who, he replied: “Of course. Of course.”
He continued: “What happened was I got it right and Roger got it wrong.”
He said he’d suggested performing the rare track as a treat for the audience, but the problem was that the band “hate rehearsing” and as a result, Daltrey came in “a bar early.”
Starkey said, “I got a call from…the manager, [and] he says, ‘It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you…that you won’t be needed from now on. Roger says you dropped some beats.’ I watched the show and I can’t find any dropped beats. Then Pete had to go along with it because Pete’s had 60 years of arguing with Roger.”
