Zak Starkey

Zak Richard Starkey (born 13 September 1965) is an English rock drummer who has performed and recorded with English rock band the Who since 1996. He is also the third drummer to have appeared with English rock band Oasis. In 2020, Starkey toured Brazil with U-Roy as guitarist. Other musicians and bands he has worked with include Johnny Marr, Paul Weller, the Icicle Works, the Waterboys, Bobby Womack, ASAP, the Lightning Seeds, John Entwistle, Sly & Robbie, Toots & The Maytals, Mykal Rose, Freddie McGregor, Big Youth, Jesse Royal, Tanya Stevens, Cecile and Sshh Liguz. Starkey is a son of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr.

Early life

Zak Richard Starkey was born on 13 September 1965, at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital in Hammersmith, London, to the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) and Maureen Starkey, Starr's first wife. He grew up at Sunny Heights at St George's Hill in Surrey and Tittenhurst Park at Sunninghill, Berkshire, and attended Highgate School in London until 1981.

At the age of eight, Starkey was given a drum kit by the Who's drummer, Keith Moon. Moon (known to young Zak as "Uncle Keith") was one of his father's closest friends and Starkey's godfather. Although they never sat together at a drum kit, Moon discussed drumming with him as a boy. The drum kit was later sold at Sotheby's for £12,000.

Starkey subsequently began teaching himself to play the drums. His father gave him only one lesson, but he discouraged his growing interest because of the desire not to see him in the same business. Although Starr has praised his son's abilities, he had always regarded him as a future lawyer or doctor. Starr's close friend, Kenney Jones, drummer for the Faces and Moon's replacement in the Who, stated that he "virtually taught" the young Starkey to play drums.Devon Ivie. "Kenney Jones on the 'Fondness and Sadness' of His Who Era "As I'm concerned there's only one drummer for the Who, and that's Keith Moon."" Vulture. 8 July 2021

/ref> By the age of twelve, Starkey was performing in pubs as a member of the garage band The Next. After Moon's death, Jones gifted the teenage Starkey a white drum kit formerly owned by Moon, which had been kept in storage by the Who.

Career

Spencer Davis, Eddie Hardin, John Entwistle and the Icicle Works

In the early 1980s, Starkey appeared with a re-formed Spencer Davis Group. His daughter Tatia was born on 7 September 1985. He briefly joined The Semantics, replacing founding drummer Jody Spence, during the recording process for their album ''Powerbill'', which ended up being unreleased except in Japan. He joined the band when they moved from Nashville to Los Angeles, and played in some shows and some recording sessions, but the band broke up less than a year after he joined.

In 1985 he played on John Entwistle's solo album '' The Rock'' (released in 1996). Starkey replaced Chris Sharrock as the drummer in the Icicle Works in 1989, leaving the band the next year without appearing on any recordings with them. A B-side later issued by founder member Ian McNabb, featured him on drums and is presumed to date from his tenure with the group. Starkey also played on the 1989 album '' Silver and Gold'', a solo work released by Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith.

Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band

In 1985, he joined his father on '' Sun City'' by Artists United Against Apartheid and during 1992 and 1995, Starkey toured with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, having previously guested on the band's 1989 tour. Starkey performed at Ringo Starr's 70th birthday party on 7 July 2010 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. He joined his father and guest stars Yoko Ono, Nils Lofgren, Steven Van Zandt and Jeff Lynne for "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Give Peace a Chance".

The Who 1996–present

In 1994, he joined John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey of the Who on a tour entitled "Daltrey Sings Townshend", which had developed from a two-night performance at Carnegie Hall to celebrate Daltrey's fiftieth birthday. In 1996, Starkey left his band Face, to work with the Who on their ''Quadrophenia'' tour. He received good reviews in this role and was praised by the music press for his strong drumming presence, without trying to emulate the band's original drummer Keith Moon. Both Townshend and Daltrey stated that Starkey was the best match for the band since the death of Keith Moon.

On 20 October 2001, he performed with the Who at the Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden. This was heralded as the Who's "comeback" performance and they stole the show. ''Rolling Stone'' called their performance "one of the 50 moments that changed rock and roll". It was also one of John Entwistle's final appearances with the band.
On 7 February 2010, Starkey appeared with the Who during the half-time show of Super Bowl XLIV at the Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida.

Starkey was not available to record for most of the Who's 2006 album'' Endless Wire'', as he had been on the road with Oasis and only had time to play on one track. However, he did join the Who for The Who Tour 2006-2007 in support of the album, during which they headlined at Glastonbury Festival in 2007. The tour finished at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland on 9 July 2007. Pete Townshend's official website stated that Starkey was afterwards invited to become a full member of the Who, stating: "Some of you may have noticed in one of my recent diary postings that I welcomed Zak into the Who as a permanent member. This is something he doesn't feel he needs or wants. Let's just say that the door is always open to this amazing musician and whenever we can, we will always try to make it possible for Zak to work with the Who in the future." On 12 July 2008, Starkey played drums for the Who at the 3rd annual VH1 Rock Honors, which celebrated the band's long career.

On 30 March 2010, he played with the band during their performance of ''Quadrophenia'' at the Royal Albert Hall in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
On 12 August 2012, he played with the Who at the finale of the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony and later that year, on 12 December, he joined them at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief. Starkey also joined the Who on their 2012–13 Quadrophenia and More tour, but he had to back out in February 2013 when he developed tendonitis but he re-joined the Who in September 2014 for their Who Hits 50 tour of UK and Europe and North America. in July 2015 and other shows during this year as part of The Who Hits 50! tour, which had started in 2014. This tour went on to include the Who at Desert Trip concert at Coachella Festival in California on 28 June 2015. Starkey also appeared with the Who when they performed as the headline act at the Glastonbury Festival. During this time, Starkey also played shows with Mick Jones of The Clash and formed The Silver Machine with Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Glen Matlock and Little Barrie.

In September 2016, Starkey was interviewed by ''Rolling Stone'' about the new covers album he was working on with Sharna Liguz, compiled with songs that had influenced them. They recorded these with the original members from each of the relevant bands. Funding for album's ten tracks was raised by a crowdfunding campaign through the Pledgemusic site. Under the name SSHH, Starkey and Liguz also recorded other tracks.

1996–2003 Johnny Marr & The Healers

In 2000, Starkey was a founding member of Johnny Marr & The Healers, although their first album, ''Boomslang'', would not be released for another three years after which the band did a world tour in 2003. On 14 April 2001, he featured in both of the backing bands for the "Steve Marriott Tribute Concert", in which he appeared along with Rick Wills, Rabbit Bundrick, Bobby Tench, Noel Gallagher and Paul Weller.

Oasis 2004–2009

During 2004, Starkey joined the Britpop band Oasis and was also featured on two tracks included on the Who's biographic album, '' The Who: Then and Now''. In May 2005, Noel Gallagher revealed to the BBC
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