Nevertheless, Ringo Starr’s son appears to be maintaining a sense of humor about the situation. On Monday, he posted on his Instagram that he had “a great phone chat” with Roger Daltrey, “which truly confused both of us!!!” He continued, “Rog said I hadn’t been ‘fired’…I had been ‘retired’ to work [on] my own projects. I explained to Rog that I have just spent nearly 8 weeks at my studio in Jamaica completing these projects, that my group Mantra Of The Cosmos was releasing one single at the beginning of June and after that had run its course ( usually 5/6 weeks ) I was completely available for the foreseeable future….Rog said ‘Oh!’ and we kind of left it there- On good terms and great friends as we have always been . Gotta love these guys. As my mum used to say ‘The mind boggles!!!'”
In other words, it seems there’s no actual change in Starkey’s status with the band, The Who are just attempting to change the narrative. The group’s original statement earlier this month suggested that Starkey was going to work on other stuff, but no one really bought it because Daltrey had publicly complained about Starkey’s drumming during a recent gig. Plus, Starkey pushed back by sharing a detailed timeline of his side gigs and how they’d never conflicted with his obligation to The Who, with whom he’d been playing for nearly three decades.
Nevertheless, his older bandmates are sticking with this framing, despite it being an obvious PR spin to save face, and despite Starkey poking holes in their obvious PR spin. “The Who are heading for retirement, whereas Zak is 20yrs younger and has a great future with his new band and other exciting projects. He needs to devote all his energy into making it all a success. We both wish him all the luck in the world,” Daltrey and Pete Townshend said in a statement posted to social media on May 18. “Scott Devours—Who fans will know him from Roger’s solo shows—will be replacing Zak. We hope all our fans will welcome him.”