The Who recently fired its longtime drummer Zak Starkey. A lot of things have happened ever since, from Starkey being rehired, fired again and asked to lie that he’d quit, to an explanation from Pete Townshend and comments by Starkey’s father, Ringo Starr.
While many accuse Roger Daltrey of being in the wrong, the singer defiantly maintains his innocence. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Daltrey gave his viewpoint of the Royal Albert Hall incident, stating he’d tried to warn Starkey about his loudness. He said,
“[The sound] 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 [Starkey] 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.”
Daltrey then opened ucommented about the ensuing debacle, which saw him attacked by The Who fans and labelled as the villain in this story. He added,
“It was kind of a character assassination and it was incredibly upsetting. Pete and I retain the right to be The Who. Everyone else is a session player.”
