The drummer sacked twice in a month over a song called “The Song Is Over” is back behind the kit, and Roger Daltrey says the reunion is aimed at European shows.
Zak Starkey is playing with The Who again, more than a year after a chaotic run of sackings and reinstatements ended his three-decade run with the band.
The news came from both sides within a day. Roger Daltrey let it slip from the stage of the Encore Theater in Las Vegas on Wednesday night during a solo show, telling the audience the band had been rehearsing with Starkey and that it “sounded great,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Starkey answered on Threads the following day.
“Nice one Rog. Looking forward to tearing it up with The Who again.”
“The rehearsal was great. I don’t think we’ve ever rehearsed as tough as that. Usually we drink tea and talk about what time we’re going home!”
The rift began at the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall in March 2025, a series Daltrey has long been associated with as a patron of the charity.
The band played “The Song Is Over“, a 1971 Who’s Next track they rarely perform live. Daltrey stopped it partway through and addressed the crowd: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drum sound: boom, boom, boom. And I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry guys.”
Starkey has since given his own account, putting the breakdown down to a shortage of rehearsal and to Daltrey shortening the song on the fly rather than to anything he played. Pete Townshend later said he could not see anything wrong with the performance and suggested Daltrey had lost his place during technical problems.
The Who announced they had parted ways with Starkey on April 17, 2025. Three days later he was reinstated, with Townshend pointing to communication issues as the cause of the first decision.
That did not hold. On May 18, ten days after the band had announced a North American farewell run, Starkey was out for a second time. The official framing was that he wanted to concentrate on his own projects. Starkey disputed it publicly, saying he had been fired and had refused a request to present the exit as his own choice. His father, Ringo Starr, spoke up on his behalf.
In his place the band hired Scott Devours, who had drummed in Daltrey‘s solo band for years and had occasionally deputised for Starkey. Devours played the farewell tour and remains Daltrey‘s solo drummer.
Starkey joined The Who in 1996 for the band’s Quadrophenia revival and stayed for close to 30 years, a connection that ran deeper than most touring appointments, original drummer Keith Moon was a family friend and his godfather, and gave him a drum kit as a child.
“The Song Is Over” North American tour opened on Aug. 16, 2025 in Sunrise, Florida and closed on Oct. 1 at Acrisure Arena in Greater Palm Springs, California, a final date added late, after the run had originally been scheduled to finish on Sept. 28 in Las Vegas. The band have not played since.
Daltrey has now made clear that the rehearsal with Starkey had a purpose. Speaking to The Arizona Republic, he said: “We had a rehearsal recently to make sure we can think about doing some shows in Europe because we’ve still got to say goodbye to them and goodbye to some other countries in the world that we had success.”
He added: “And the rehearsal went extremely well and sounded fantastic. So, I mean, it’s not over by any means. It’s just that was the last tour of America for the Who.”
No dates have been confirmed. Daltrey did rule out one possible venue during the Las Vegas show, dismissing the idea of the band playing the Sphere.
