For nearly 30 years, Zak Starkey served as the touring drummer of The Who, until he and the British rock legends parted ways earlier in 2025. Starkey, whose dad is The Beatles’ Ringo Starr, now is focusing on other projects, including a one-man show he’ll be doing on February 20, 2026, in New York City.
Videos by American Songwriter
Starkey recently was interviewed about his upcoming gig by DJ Jonathan Clarke on the New York rock radio station Q104.3. During the conversation, Zak also shared a surprising revelation about his father’s famous band.
Starkey, who turned 60 in September, admitted that growing up, he purposely avoided listening to the Fab Four’s music.
“I’ll be honest. When I was a kid, The Beatles were in my way, if you see what I mean,” he explained. “I was in groups from a young really young age, and I was getting press attention, but they were only paying me attention and they weren’t paying the rest of the band attention. And I got bit resentful of this, and that sort of got me into a place where I sort of shunned The Beatles for a long time.”
He continued, “A few people have said that’s why I have an identity of my own, you know. But at the end of the day, when I did listen to The Beatles, when I was about 25, it was like, ‘Wow, these guys are amazing! … I should have been listening to this forever.’”
That being said, Zak added, “I’m glad I didn’t, you know, because I got into other things.”
Starkey’s Thoughts on the Restored Beatles Anthology Docuseries
Clarke also asked Starkey if he’d watched the newly restored and expanded version of the 1990s docuseries The Beatles Anthology.
“I went to the premiere the other night, actually,” he shared. “I thought it was fabulous. I thought it was great.”
The updated Beatles Anthology series is streaming now on Disney+.
About Starkey’s Upcoming One-Man Show
Starkey’s one-man show, which is cheekily dubbed “Zak Starkey … Who?,” will take place at the Gramercy Theatre. The event will feature Zak chatting about his long career in music, and playing drums along to recordings of songs by some of the famous groups he’s performed with, including The Who and Oasis.
The show also will feature at least one special guest, plus a video presentation including archival photos and film footage.
Tickets are available now at TheGramercyTheatre.com and LiveNation.com.
During the Q104.com interview with Starkey, Clarke read a description of the show.
“The show will be drums and conversation, and will feature stories, unseen photographs, homemade movies, [and] songs from your extraordinary life,” the DJ noted. He also pointed out, “You will … be playing along to tracks, including some prepared by the man himself, [Who guitarist] Pete Townshend.”
“Correct,” Starkey replied. He then explained Townshend had given him permission to use backing tracks for eight to 10 songs Pete prepared that were played during Who concerts.
“I think people will be quite surprised at how integral [the tracks] are to, actually, a Who show,” Zak noted.
He continued, “So, what I’m trying to do is show how a Who show works.”
Starkey added, “I’ve [also] sampled a little bit of [late Who bassist] John [Entwistle] and stuff, and … I’ve got hundreds of hours of home movies, which I never watched. And it’s mostly every tour I ever did, you know. … So, I’m gonna cut that into it. And … I was going to be doing a few Oasis tunes as well, with footage. It’s all stuff that I played on originally, apart from obviously the Who stuff, which was done by the greatest drummer of all time [Keith Moon].”
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Desert Trip)
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.