{"id":2120459,"date":"2026-08-31T12:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2120459"},"modified":"2026-08-31T12:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T09:48:08","slug":"after-a-tumultuous-2025-drummer-zak-starkey-says-hes-lookin-forward-to-tearin-it-up-with-the-who-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2120459","title":{"rendered":"After a Tumultuous 2025, Drummer Zak Starkey Says He\u2019s \u2018Lookin\u2019 Forward to Tearin\u2019 It Up With The Who Again\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1395426984-e1788178660679.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tZak Starkey appears to be fully back in The Who fold again. The veteran timekeeper \u2014\u00a0and son of Ringo \u2014\u00a0who was unceremoniously booted from his gig keeping the beat for The Who after nearly 30 years on the job in 2025, confirmed last week that his off, then on, then off-again gig is firmly his again as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame icons have begun rehearsals.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThe Who\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tCommenting on singer Roger Daltrey telling an audience at his Las Vegas solo show at the Encore Theater last Wednesday (Aug. 26) that the Who is gearing up to come back together with Starkey on drums following a recent rehearsal that \u201csounded great,\u201d Starkey confirmed the news on Friday (Aug. 28).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNice one Rog x. Lookin forward to tearin it up with The Who again,\u201d Starkey wrote on Instagram alongside a clip of a report about Daltrey\u2019s reunion comments. \u201cThe rehearsal was great.. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever rehearsed as tough as that .. usually we drink tea and talk about what time we\u2019re going home!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to Variety, Starkey confirmed the unexpected news, saying, \u201cWe rehearsed for an afternoon and were absolutely on fire. I\u2019m so happy to be back playing the music I love with people I love. It\u2019s good to be home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe surprising rapprochement comes more than a year after a tumultuous back-and-forth between Starkey and the band led by Daltrey, 80 and guitarist\/songwriter Pete Townshend, 81. After beginning a nearly three-decade gig playing with the group in 1996, a rep for the Who announced last April that Starkey had been asked to step down. Reports at the time claimed that it was Daltrey who was behind the ousting, following gigs at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall in which he reportedly had trouble hearing his vocals over Starkey\u2019s bombastic playing.<\/p>\n

\n\tStarkey was then just as unexpectedly rehired a few days later, only to be fired again after a month in a messy back-and-forth that resulted in drummer Scott Devours joining the band for what was billed as a farewell North American tour. Though the Who completed that outing in October of last year, it appears they may continue it in other regions with Starkey once again behind the kit; at press time, a spokesperson for The Who had not returned Billboard<\/em>\u2018s request for comment on Starkey\u2019s re-hiring or future tour dates.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not over by any means,\u201d Daltrey told the Arizona Republic<\/em> about the future of the Who while promoting his solo tour. \u201cIt\u2019s just that was the last tour of America for the Who.\u201d At press time, the band has not confirmed any new tour dates on their schedule.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rock\/drummer-zak-starkey-lookin-forward-playing-with-who-again-1236328795\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1395426984-e1788178660679.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Zak Starkey appears to be fully back in The Who fold again. The veteran timekeeper \u2014\u00a0and son of Ringo \u2014\u00a0who was unceremoniously booted from his gig keeping the beat for The Who after nearly 30 years on the job in 2025, confirmed last week that his off, then on, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2120459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2120459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2120459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2120459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2120459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2120459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}