Friday, August 28, 2026

Surprise! The Who Make Up with Drummer Zak Starkey, Found There was No “Substitute” After 30 Years: They Won’t Get Fooled Again

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Very Spinal Tap:

Drummer Zak Starkey and The Who have made up.

On Instagram Zak responded to an announcement Roger Daltrey made at his Las Vegas show:

“Last night in vegas 26/8/26
Nice one Rog x. Lookin forward to tearin 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!Fantastic vocal from Roger here on his song ‘certified rose’”

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend discovered there was “Substitute” for Starkey, who’s been with them for 30 years. But last year Daltrey and Starkey had a massive public falling out during the group’s umpteenth Farewell Tour. Zak said he’d been fired, and the whole thing turned into wrenching experience for everyone involved.

So maybe they’re back. The Who will never die. I went to a Farewell concert in the 70s, and the 80s. It ain’t over til it’s over.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by therealzakstarkey (@therealzakstarkey)

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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