Oasis fans reckon ‘incredible’ drummer sacked by The Who will join their 2025 tour

Oasis fans have spotted a huge opportunity for the Gallagher brothers to reclaim The Who’s Zak Starkey on the drums for this year’s much-anticipated reunion tour.

While Noel and Liam Gallagher have hugged it out following 15 years of public squabbles, The Who have just started to crumble.

This week the Baba O’Riley rockers – still boasting founding members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend – made a ‘collective’ decision to sack their drummer of 29 years Zak after frontman Daltrey voiced complaints about his Royal Albert Hall performance in March.

It was an unfortunate turn of events for Zak, who in an emotional statement said he was ‘saddened’ that the band he views as ‘like family’ would fire him after 29 years.

But eagle-eyed Oasis fans have viewed the news of his empty diary as rather opportune, with many saying Zak’s return to the band is a ‘must’.

Zak Starkey played with Oasis from 2004 to 2008

Zak began drumming for Oasis in 2004. He played on the albums Don’t Believe The Truth and Dig Out Your Soul, before departing in 2008. While it’s not clear why he left, Zak was at the time also playing with The Who, so perhaps couldn’t commit to both bands’ busy touring schedules.

While Zak was never an ‘official’ member of Oasis or The Who, he performed with them both regularly.

On his decision to leave Oasis, Zak was replaced by Chris Sharrock before Noel and Liam’s famous break up in 2009.

But while Sharrock went on to become part of Liam Gallagher’s Beady Eye, followed by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, fans are now holding out hope for the great return of Zak after his The Who axe.

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‘Prediction: He’s gonna be drummer in re-formed Oasis for their upcoming summer tour,’ wrote @TomSiebert on X.

‘Put Zak Starkey back in Oasis,’ said @reboundernyc, while dangersmith echoed: ‘Get Zak Starkey back into Oasis!’

‘Shoutout to my personal favorite Oasis drummer Zak Starkey,’ wrote @Steven_Hyden on hearing the news of his The Who sacking.

Days before the news came of Zak’s axe, X account OasisArchives and its followers were raving over a video of his ‘incredible’ and ‘amazing’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Star outro while playing with Oasis in 2005.

The Oasis 2025 tour line up is rumoured – but not official yet

Those who have looked into the Oasis 2025 reunion tour lineup will be aware that Joey Waronker is heavily speculated to be taking to the sticks – but a line-up is yet to be officially announced.

In March NME shared an Oasis 2025 line-up which they said came from a source close to the band, which included former Oasis guitarist Gem Archer, Oasis co-founder Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs, and Joey on the drums.

The American drummer, who formed Atoms for Peace with Thom Yorke and worked on Liam Gallagher’s collaborative album with John Squire, is the only one in the rumoured line-up to have never performed with Oasis before, so the move shocked fans.

The rumours grew legs when Liam, seemingly rattled, responded to the line-up on social media, asking NME to reveal their ‘close’ source.

‘It’s not the lineup reveal I’m bothered about I’ll reveal that to you in a minute,’ he wrote, adding: ‘I’m more bothered about the line where it says a source close to the band and tour that really causes me a great deal of concern LG x…’

However, while some see this as confirmation of the line-up, as anyone who knows Liam’s online movements will know: it’s best to take everything he says on X with a big old pinch of salt until an official confirmation, as he is a master troll.

So some fans are still holding out for official word. ‘Zak behind the kit for the Oasis tour is what must happen,’ said @bennybeeee, still hoping for the return of the rocker despite his exclusion from the rumoured line-up.

Why Zak Starkey could join Oasis on the drums in 2025

His return does seem plausible, as Zak is the leading force behind the supergroup Mantra Of The Cosmos, who Noel joined on their single Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous) in January.

There have also been mutterings of Zak’s involvement in the Oasis tour even before The Who unceremoniously dropped him.

Earlier this year, Mantra Of The Cosmos member Shaun Ryder told The Daily Star when faced with a question about Zak appearing at Oasis 2025: ‘You gotta ask him that. We sort of know…’

…and that was that. Mysterious.

Before he was sacked from The Who, Zak responded to a question about whether he would re-join Oasis evasively when asked by Rolling Stone.

‘Err, I don’t know,’ he swiftly said. ‘I don’t know.’

Zak told the publication in March that the biggest hurdle for the supergroup – also including Oasis’ Andy Bell and Bez from The Happy Mondays – is their busy individual schedules. But now Zak has got one huge The Who-shaped gap to fill…

The Oasis Live ’25 Tour is due to kick off on July 4 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, so if Zak did want to join the historic tour he’d better get his sticks back up and running soon.

Why was Zak Starkey sacked from The Who?

Drummer Zak – who is the son of Beatle Sir Ringo Starr and godson to the Who’s original drummer Keith Moon – played with the My Generation hitmakers for almost three decades, and recorded with them for years before this too.

Moon, who died in 1978 of an accidental overdose, bought Zak his first drumkit at the age of eight.

His sacking came after a string of Teenage Cancer Trust charity gigs at the Royal Albert Hall last month, which Metro reviewed at the time to be littered with stoppages as Daltrey complained of not being able to hear over the drums.

A spokesperson for The Who told Metro on Tuesday: ‘The band made a collective decision to part ways with Zak after this round of shows at the Royal Albert Hall. They have nothing but admiration for him and wish him the very best for his future.’

In a heartbreaking statement following the news from The Who, an emotional Zak said: ‘I’m very proud of my near thirty years with The Who.

‘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. In January, I suffered a serious medical emergency with blood clots in my right bass drum calf. This is now completely healed and does not affect my drumming or running.’

He added: ‘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?

‘I plan to take some much needed time off with my family, and focus on the release of [single] Domino Bones by Mantra Of The Cosmos with Noel Gallagher in May and finishing my autobiography written solely by me.

‘Twenty-nine years at any job is a good old run, and I wish them the best.’

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