The Who, photo by William Synder

It’s been about a month since we last heard from The Who, whose prolonged and confounding split with three-decade drummer Zak Starkey continually casted the legendary band back into the headlines from mid-April to late May. There’s been little noise from the storied act since May 27, when Starky shared an addendum to the uncoupling that he was not fired, but “retired” from the band by frontman Roger Daltrey. “On good terms and great friends as we have always been,”  he said, weeks after being asked to make a statement that he’d quit. “Gotta love these guys.”

Now, because the band’s lingering friction has long been its beating heart, Pete Townshend has offered his perspective on the events in a new interview with The iPaper. In a generally freewheeling conversation that included reflections on Quadrophenia: A Mod Ballet and the odds against the new generation of young people, The Who’s guitarist and principal songwriter traced dysfunctional creative dynamics from the band’s heyday to its latest flare, stemming from their now infamous Teenage Cancer Trust 2025 performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

During a 54-year bust-out of “The Song Is Over,” Roger Daltrey halted to tell the audience: “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.” Starkey refused the suggestion that he’d overplayed and missed cues and was subsequently fired, swiftly rehired with a thoughtful message from Townshend, and ultimately fired again. In his latest comment, Townshend seems to be as blindsided as anyone else.

“It’s been a mess. I couldn’t see anything wrong. What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time,” Townshend shared, echoing his earlier remarks on a lack of rehearsal spurring the miscommunication. “But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I’ve lost my sound man as a result.

“I think Roger just got lost,” Townshend continued. “Roger’s finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand.

“Zak is another Keith Moon,” he said in closing, after reminding the interviewer that it was Daltrey who originally hired Starkey. “He comes with real, real bonuses and real, real difficulties. I will miss Zak terribly. But quite what the story is, I don’t f**king know. I really don’t know.”

The Who will embark on “The Song Is Over” North American Farewell Tour later this summer, comprising 16 shows at massive venues across the U.S. and Canada in a bittersweet farewell to the stage. Townshend and Daltrey will be joined by backbeat Scott Devours, who joins after previously playing with Daltrey’s solo band and occasionally subbing in for Stakey. Stakey, son of Ringo Starr, has a full plate of independent ventures to pursue, including his supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos, who recently released the new single “Rip Off” with Sean Ono Lennon and James McCartney.