Calling Roger ‘Toger’
The Who recently rocked the music industry when it was claimed the band’s drummer Zak Starkey had been ‘sacked’ from the iconic group.
The band’s original members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are said to have kicked him out following a ‘huge fall out’ after their recent gigs.
The Who performed a string of shows at The Royal Albert Hall and sources have claimed there were question marks over Zak’s drumming.
During one gig, Roger even called out the sound of the drums branding it ‘s***t’ during an onstage rant as he appeared to slam the sticksman’s performance.
Roger, 81, paused a rendition of The Real Me as he controversially claimed the sound was so bad he was unable to sing along to it.
Cracks in the band had been beginning to show and Zak’s recent social media posts have also set tongues wagging that there was trouble in the ranks.
In recent days, Zak referred to Roger as ‘Toger’ during a scathing online tirade about the gigs and claims that the lead singer had accused him of ‘overplaying’.
Fans have also speculated that Zak – who is the son of Beatles legend Ringo Starr – could be set to reunite with Oasis during their run of summer shows, which may have unimpressed his bandmates.
So following the news that Zak and The Who are set to split for good, we take a look at all the brewing signs of tension in the band…
The Who performing at the Royal Albert Hall last month where Roger Roger Daltrey seemingly accused his bandmate Zak Starkey of playing poorly
Zak with his Beatles star father Ringo Starr in September 2016
Calling Roger ‘Toger’
During a rambling social media posted which was shared over the weekend, Zak referred to the band’s lead singer Roger Daltrey as ‘Toger Daktrey’.
The insult will no doubt have ruffled feathers with the legendary musician who Zak also claimed was ‘unhappy’ with his performance at the Royal Albert Hall recently.
Pulling no punches, Zak said he had been accused of ‘overplaying’ during the gig which caused tension between the group.
Zak shared a pH๏τo of Roger and himself together in happier times, which was captioned The Daily Who Breaking News.
Zak shared a pH๏τo of Roger and himself together in happier times, which was captioned The Daily Who Breaking News
During a rambling social media posted which was shared over the weekend, Zak referred to the band’s lead singer Roger Daltrey as ‘Toger Daktrey’
Alongside it the full statement read: ‘Heard today from inside source within whose horses nose that Toger Daktrey, 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…
The post continued: ‘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 all stars’ this has been confirmed by whose long time manager willyayouwontyouknow’ [sic].
Zak’s post seemingly confirms strife among the band as he took aim at Roger and reflected on their doomed Royal Albert Hall performance.
He also pointedly set his location as The Royal Albert Hall, after the gig apparently caused a huge rift in the band.
Posting a picture of Roger’s bottom
Zak had already attempted to rile Roger a day earlier when he posted a picture of the rocker lying face down on a bed wearing a pair of Y-front underpants.
Revealing that the pH๏τo was of Roger, he said in the caption alongside the image: ‘Nice bum shame about the y fronts Roger!’
Zak had tagged The Who’s official Instagram page in the image, as well as ‘super group’ Mantra Of The Cosmos.
The band consists of Shaun Ryder (Happy Mondays, Black Grape), Zak (The Who, Oasis), Andy Bell (Oasis, Ride) and Bez (Happy Mondays, Black Grape).
The comments section of the post was telling as fans commented there ‘had been signs’ that Zak had been booted from the band.
Zak had already attempted to rile Roger a day earlier when he posted a picture of the rocker lying face down on a bed wearing a pair of Y-front underpants
Following the news that they had gone their separate ways, one person said: ‘This suddenly makes sense…’
Following the news that they had gone their separate ways, one person said: ‘This suddenly makes sense…’
While another joked: ‘There were signs’.
Others admitted that they were shocked by the pH๏τo, and wrote: ‘I can’t unsee that..’
The words ’eminence y-fronts’ was printed in black font over the image, with eminence referring to fame or acknowledged superiority within a particular sphere.
As well as sharing a nearly ɴuᴅᴇ snap of Roger, Zak also recently posted a full frontal snap of his late godfather – The Who’s former drummer Keith Moon, who played in the band before his death aged 32.
In a similar tone to Roger’s post, he wrote: ‘Nice bum shame about the H๏τel rooms.’
Zak isn’t Pete’s ‘dream drummer’
Despite recording and playing with The Who since 1996, Zak’s bandmate Pete controversially admitted last year that he wasn’t his ‘dream drummer’.
Pete has previously collaborated with Simon and has expressed high regard for him as a session drummer, making his preference for the musician known.
They worked together on several projects, which included Pete’s solo albums as well as playing the drums on The Who’s reunion tour in 1989.
Simon was also a key member of Pete Townshend’s supergroup, Deep End, which was formed in 1985 and featured musicians such as David Gilmour from Pink Floyd.
Despite recording and playing with The Who since 1996, Zak’s bandmate Pete (pictured left) controversially admitted last year that he wasn’t his ‘dream drummer’
However, Zak did very recently share a picture of himself and Pete with the caption ‘what a guy’, suggesting his issues weren’t with this particular bandmate
According to a Redit post, one user claimed their eyebrows were raised when Pete didn’t name Zak in his dream band at the time of the interview.
A comment a thread about Zak’s exit from the band, mused: ‘Pete and Zak have been commenting on each others IG the past few days. It’s certainly a Roger thing.’
However someone speculated: ‘I would agree completely but last year Pete said in an interview that if he were to put together his dream band it would include Simon Phillips on drums.’
‘That raised an eyebrow when I read it, and now it kind of fits in with this. So maybe it’s mostly Roger, but not 100 per cent’.
However, Zak did very recently share a picture of himself and Pete with the caption ‘what a guy’, suggesting his issues weren’t with this particular bandmate.
Row over Royal Albert Hall performance
Zak’s exit from the band came after a string of disappointing performances with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall which apparently resulted in a ‘huge fall out’.
After playing together for decades, the band parted ways with Zak, with the bust-up having happened after the band’s two recent gigs.
A spokesperson told The Mirror: ‘The band 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.’
However, the decision to axe Zak, who has been in the band for almost 30 years, has allegedly left him very ‘upset’.
The insider went on to add: ‘It’s a little acrimonious to say the least.’
Sources have allegedly claimed that there were question marks over Zak’s drumming at the shows last month, where he performed in a bizarre yellow onesie.
Zak’s exit from the band came after a string of disappointing performances with The Who at the Royal Albert Hall which apparently resulted in a ‘huge fall out’ (pictured at one of the Royal Albert Hall shows)
And while fans were loving the shows, which were in honour of Roger’s Teenage Cancer Trust charity, a source claimed there were a ‘few issues with the drumming….and the standard wasn’t as high as everyone wanted.’
However, a different source noted that ‘extremely talented’ Zak’s departure is sure to rock the band, with his axing not making ‘any sense’.
Jumping to his own defence over the critique on his drumming, Zak insisted that it ‘depends where you sit as to what you hear’ from the performance.
Responding to a review in Reyt Good Magazine, where the critic claimed: ‘Zak Starkey has been with the band twice as long as Keith Moon and fits the band like an old pair of shoes, though the electric kit does result in the mix feeling strangely detached.’
Sharing a lengthy post about the review on his Instagram page, Zak said: ‘Strangely dependent on where u sit’ – like all gigs…. And The Who is about deafening guitar and vocals…
‘Imagine being in the front row of Woodstock / Isle of Wight /Live At a Leeds etc Pete, John and even Roger have huge stacks of amps and speakers to hear themselves…’
‘Keith has nothing but 3 rack Toms that are actually share drums without snares (louder than deep tom Toms ) and gongs behind him to get some sort of sound reflection closer than the back wall of the venue (f****n smart guy).
‘But in the front 6 rows u would only hear the other guys who are amplified on stage not Keith – I have no idea how Keith coped when the deafening frequencies wiping out (surf pun) his drums into silence except for his drum sound which is genius cis no one else is in that frequency range…’
‘Smarter than the average bear boohoo’ as my mum used to say! AND WOT ABOUT MY F****N ONESIE?!?!?!’
Roger ‘blames the bad gig on Zak’
According to the same review, during one of the shows Roger halted a performance of The Real Me and branded the sound of the drumming ‘s**t’.
The RGM reviewer said: ‘A touch tricker though, is the sound mix, as Roger halts The Real Me, as he and Pete are struggling to hear the electric drum kit of Zak Starkey.
‘They start the song again and just about get through it with Daltrey still struggling, at the end explaining ‘I can sing to something, but not that s**t!’.
According to the same review, during one of the shows Roger halted a performance of The Real Me and branded the sound of the drumming ‘s**t’ (pictured on the night)
A video of the moment Roger refused to continue singing because he couldn’t hear the key has also been shared online.
The clip, Roger explained that he couldn’t hear the key and ranted ‘all I can hear is the drums, boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that’.
‘It was going so well. I can sing in any f***ing key you want, but I need to hear which one you’re in. It’s not your fault, you’re doing it.
Questioning what was going on, Pete chimed in: ‘Well we turned the drums up, but we’ll turn them down again.’
Following the brief disturbance, the band then resumed the song.
While the frustration was certainly aimed at the sound technicians at the venue, fans of the band insisted that Roger was also unhappy with Zak.
Sources told the Mirror that Roger wasn’t impressed by the loud volume of the drums which caused issues during the show.
However one Reddit user said this theory made little sense because Zak has been playing the same electric kit for six years now.
Reuniting with Oasis?
Other fan theories about the split include the fact that Zak may be planning to reunite with Oasis, who he has also played with, ahead of their UK tour this year (pictured performing with Oasis in 2007 at the Brit Awards)
Other fan theories about the split include the fact that Zak may be planning to reunite with Oasis, who he has also played with, ahead of their UK tour this year.
One person suggested: ‘I wonder if something else is going on. Either a row in the line-up over personal drama or Zak really is reuniting with Oasis (which contradicts supposed ‘leaks’ that suggest Joey Waronker will be Oasis’ live drummer).’
Another added: ‘May not a roger thing, it’s been rumoured Zak will be joining Oasis for their reunion tour. but who knows. there are other contenders as well.’
While it’s been speculated that Starkey could return for the band’s reunion tour, he has so far not confirmed or denied he will be taking part.
Earlier this year, Zak spoke to Rolling Stone UK about about individual projects stopped him collaborating with his Mantra Of The Cosmos bandmates.
When asked if the Oasis reunion was a stumbling block for him, he vaguely responded: ‘Err, I don’t know… I don’t know’.
Shaun Ryder recently told the the Daily Star that the group ‘sort of know…’ if Zak would be involved but didn’t give anything else away.
