The Who Rehearse With Zak Starkey Again — Despite Firing Him Twice
Roger Daltrey told a Las Vegas crowd on August 26 that the Who recently rehearsed with drummer Zak Starkey for a possible European leg of their farewell tour, and that the session "sounded great." The remark, made on stage at the Encore Theater, was first reported by Rolling Stone.
Daltrey separately told the Arizona Republic that the band is not finished and that the rehearsal went extremely well, according to the same Rolling Stone report. The Who have not performed since the U.S. leg of their farewell tour wrapped in October 2025.
The reunion-in-the-room is notable because Starkey's departure from the band was anything but clean. The Who publicly fired Starkey, rehired him three days later, then fired him again the following month. Starkey told Rolling Stone he learned he was out a couple of weeks after the band's last show with him, a Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 30, 2025. Scott Devours was announced as the Who's new drummer in May 2025, and Starkey went on to form a new group, Mantra of the Cosmos.
That Royal Albert Hall show was where the Who gave the live debut of "The Song Is Over," a deep cut from their 1971 album Who's Next. The night was marred by technical issues that Daltrey reportedly blamed partly on Starkey. Starkey had live-streamed extensive rehearsals of the song on Instagram prior to both Royal Albert Hall shows, in preparation for the debut.
Despite the two dismissals, the signals from both sides now point back toward collaboration. Starkey shared a Las Vegas Review-Journal review of Daltrey's solo show on Instagram, writing that he looked forward to "tearin it up with the Who again." The band's farewell tour is officially called "The Song Is Over Tour," named after the very track that marked his final appearance — and now, possibly, a return.
Starkey's drumming lineage carries its own weight for fans: he is the son of Ringo Starr, and both father and son played drums on Mark Knopfler's 2024 "Guitar Heroes" charity single, their two tracks switching between them. Starkey first joined the Who's touring lineup in the mid-1990s and remained the band's drummer through multiple tours, including the orchestral "Moving On!" tour in 2019 and the North American farewell dates announced in 2025.
No European dates have been formally announced. Daltrey's comments confirm only that a rehearsal took place and that the band is considering further shows. For a band whose farewell tour borrows its name from a song about endings, the prospect of another chapter — with a drummer they fired twice — is the kind of detail that needs no embellishment.
