Weeks After Reinstatement, the Who Boots Starkey Again

The Who drummer Zak Starkey has been fired for the second time in a month. Weeks after the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was let go for reportedly playing drumming too loudly at a London show, then reinstated, the band announced Monday that Starkey was out yet again, per the Guardian. "After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change," guitarist Pete Townshend wrote on Instagram, adding, "Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best." An hour later, Starkey penned a post of his own, indicating the split was not a mutual decision.

"I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit ... to pursue my other musical endevours (sic)," Starkey wrote. He said he had other projects on the go, as was usual, but "none of this has ever interfered with the Who and was never a problem for them." He added he "would never have quit" even after "weeks of mayhem of me going 'in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox," per CNN. Starkey had been the Who's drummer since 1996. Townsend said he would be replaced by Scott Devours, who's performed with Who vocalist Roger Daltrey's solo band, for the Who's North American farewell tour, kicking off in Florida in August. (More The Who stories.)