Open this photo in gallery: English drummer Zak Starkey of the Who performs on stage at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, western Paris, on June 23, 2023.ANNA KURTH/AFP/Getty Images Days after saying the band had made a collective decision to part ways with drummer Zak Starkey, the Who has reinstated its longtime sideman. Earlier this week, it appeared that the legendary British rockers had fired Starkey after singer Roger Daltrey took issue with his drumming during a concert on March 30 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. On Saturday, group co-founder Pete Townshend took to social media to clarify Starkey’s status. “He’s not being asked to step down from the Who,” the guitarist wrote in a statement posted on the band’s X account. “There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.” During the Royal Albert Hall concert, the second of two in benefit of the Teenage Cancer Trust, the 81-year-old Daltrey struggled during the final number, The Song is Over. “To sing that song I do need to hear the key,” he complained. “All I’ve got is drum sound…I can’t sing to that.” Starkey, 59, is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr. While not considered a permanent member of the Who, he has regularly toured with the band since 1996 and has appeared on such albums as 2006’s Endless Wire. Believing he’d been sacked, he released a written statement: “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?” In Saturday’s subsequent statement, Townshend said Starkey had apologized for making “a few mistakes” and had agreed to “tighten up” his drumming style. “We are a family, this blew up very quickly and got too much oxygen,” the guitarist wrote. “It’s over.”