Zak Starkey talks relationship with The Who as he readies one-man show

Drummer Zak Starkey is set to take the stage at New York’s Gramercy Theatre Friday for a one-man show, Zak Starkey … Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation. He’ll take fans through his life and career, which will likely include his almost 30 years playing drums for The Who.

Starkey tells ABC Audio that even though his dad is Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, it was seeing The Who that made him want to learn to play the drums. And it turns out his dad wasn’t much help with that.

“I asked my dad for a drum lesson, and he gave me one lesson,” Starkey says. “Then the next day he said, ‘Now try this.’ I said, ‘I can do that.’ He said, ‘Well, you’re on your own.’ And that was it.”

Starkey began playing with The Who in 1996, and he says it felt “amazing” when he got the gig after being such a fan.

And while he and The Who parted ways in 2025 following an onstage disagreement between Starkey and Roger Daltrey, Starkey says he still has a good relationship with both Daltrey and Pete Townshend. In fact, he recently talked to Daltrey, who wished him luck with the show and gave him some advice.

“He told me to be myself, everything would be fine,” says Starkey. He notes of the issues that led to his split with the band, “It’s just some crazy s*** got out of hand … but we were still friends all the time through it.”

The Who wound up going on a farewell tour of North America in 2025 without Starkey behind the drum kit. As for whether he thinks it really was The Who’s final tour, Starkey wouldn’t speculate.

“If you think you know what those two guys are going to do, they’ll do something different.” 

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