Zak Starkey is a great drummer, but he's not a drum clinic kind of drummer — at least that's how he feels.
Showing off his chops, breaking down the minutia of his technique or the subtleties of his songwriting doesn't much appeal to Zak at this point; he'd rather talk about the stories behind the songs and the people behind his life of music.
On February 20, 2026, Zak is debuting his one-man show, 'Zak Starkey... Who? An Evening of Drums and Conversation,' at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. It's perfect forum for Zak to share chapters from his life's story, celebrate the myriad music he's contributed to in his career and to perform music by The Who, Oasis, Toots and the Maytals, Johnny Marr and Mantra of the Cosmos.
"I've always played in bands, right? ...I was very blessed, really, because the bands that I was part of were my favorite bands," Zak tells Q104.3's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke.
The live show will also feature a visual backdrop of rare photographs and home movies from "every tour I ever did."
Zak is understandably cagey about some of the specific content of his show — he doesn't want to give too much away — but he adds that his journey through music will be a central theme.
Being the son of Ringo Starr comes with some advantages, he admits, and it wasn't until later in life that Zak realized how surreal his childhood was.
"When I was a kid, it was the inside looking out and that's just how it was," he recalls. "These are my dad's mates. Marc Bolan (T. Rex) did show me a few things on the guitar. But then I saw him live when I was about 7, and that's when I started to do music, you know. ... I started the play the guitar and then he showed me some stuff on the guitar, and I was a guitar player.
"And then when I was 10, I suddenly found this record called Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy (The Who, 1971). It's like all the '60s singles. It's really aggressive and noisy, you know. And then I realized, 'Oh, that guy is, like, my dad's friend who comes and hangs out with me and my brother and sister. That's him. Wow. And that totally made me change to the drums almost immediately. I asked my dad for a lesson."
Watch the full conversation via the player above!
Get your tickets here to 'Zak Starkey...Who?: An Evening of Drums and Conversation.'