The Who frontman Roger Daltrey abruptly stopped mid-song, tapped his earpiece and shook his head.
“I’ll sing it any key you want, but I’ve got to be able to hear,” he said as he shot an accusatory glare at drummer Zak Starkey.
“To sing that song, I do need to hear the key, and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom, boom, boom. I can’t sing to that. I’m sorry, guys.”
Zak Starkey drumming with the Who in 2017 as Roger Daltrey sings.Credit: Getty Images
The on-stage taunt was the opening jibe in a tumultuous three-week row in which Starkey, son of the Beatles’ legendary drummer Ringo Starr and the Who’s drummer since 1996, was fired and reinstated within days.
An out-of-key Daltrey struggled through The Song is Over’s opening notes at a Royal Albert Hall charity concert at the end of March. The band was attempting a song they had never performed live.
After the performance, frontman Daltrey and drummer Starkey, 59, had a war of words in the dressing room, arguing over who was to blame for the technical failure, according to a well-placed source. The ensuing drama has echoed the great rock’n’roll spats of the 1960s and 1970s.
Although they appear to have reconciled, with Starkey publicly reinstated to the Who on Saturday, sources close to the band told The Telegraph how the “lovers’ tiff” threatened to derail one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century.
The band, which formed in London in 1964 and found huge success with songs such as Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again, performed two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in March to support Teenage Cancer Trust.
Daltrey and songwriter Pete Townshend, 79, who have been the only constant members throughout the band’s history, viewed the shows as a “time to experiment” with their set list before a major tour of the US this year, according to a well-placed source.
The tour, the dates of which have not been announced, is expected to be the band’s final one and may define its legacy.
“It wasn’t a dress rehearsal for the tour but it’s a good time to experiment because you’re not going to get bad reviews when you’re doing it for charity,” the source said. “They are probably thinking, ‘If it works, we can do it on tour.’ Roger knows, deep down, this is the end of the road and he wants it to be perfect.”
With the licence to experiment, the band finished their second show on March 30 with The Song Is Over, a ballad from their 1971 album Who’s Next that they had never before performed in concert.
The performance fell flat as Daltrey, who has suffered from hearing problems for years, struggled to hear the key through his earpiece.
“It was a song they had never played live and it didn’t work because he [Daltrey] couldn’t hear what was going on,” the source said. “That was more to do with whoever was doing the mix.
“If anyone should have copped for it, it should have been the drum technician or a sound guy. It’s such a huge crew, nothing should ever go wrong, but for whatever reason, Roger threw his toys.”
Roger Daltrey (left) and Peter Townshend of the Who.Credit: Reuters
After coming off stage that night, Daltrey blamed his drummer for the botched performance while Starkey “gave him lip back”, the source revealed.
The Who were once notorious for its fallouts – Townshend fired drummer Doug Sandom after an argument in 1964 and fought on stage with Sandom’s replacement, Keith Moon, in 1966 – but the disputes have largely disappeared in recent years.
That was until last week, when Starkey referred to Daltrey as “Toger” in a rambling social media post on April 12. The post added: “Heard today Daltrey was unhappy with Zak the drummer’s performance.”
Three days later, he had left the band. The Who’s spokesman suggested it was by mutual consent, while sources claimed he was forced out by Daltrey.
He told Rolling Stone at the time “filling the shoes of my godfather Uncle Keith has been the biggest honour and I remain their biggest fan. They’ve been like family to me.
“After playing those songs with the band for so many decades, I’m surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night, but what can you do? Twenty-nine years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.”
The original line-up of The Who (from left): Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.Credit: AP
Nevertheless, his absence was short-lived. With the US tour looming, the band did not have time to replace Starkey, who is understood to have been welcomed back to the fold by April 17 after Townshend intervened.
Townshend said in a statement on Saturday: “He’s not being asked to step down from the Who. There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”
He revealed Starkey was asked to “tighten up his latest evolved drumming style”, adding, “he has readily agreed”.
“I take responsibility for some of the confusion,” Townshend said, calling the Royal Albert Hall show “a little tricky”.
“Our TCT (Teenage Cancer Trust) shows at the Royal Albert Hall were a little tricky for me. I thought that four-and-a-half weeks would be enough time to recover completely from having a complete knee replacement. (Why did I ever think I could land on my knees?) Wrong!
“Maybe we didn’t put enough time into sound checks, giving us problems on stage. The sound in the centre of the stage is always the most difficult to work with. Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised. Albeit with a rubber duck drummer.”
Starkey wrote on social media: “V grateful to be a part of The Who family Thanks Roger and Pete xx.”
Starkey first performed with Daltrey on his 1994 tour Daltrey Sings Townshend, and worked with the Who on their Quadrophenia tour in 1996. Both Townshend and Daltrey stated that Starkey was the best match for the band since the death of celebrated drummer Moon in 1978.
The Telegraph, London
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