All about this artist
Biography:
Born 13 September 1965, London, England. Starkey is the first son of arguably the most famous rock drummer of all time, the Beatles' Ringo Starr. Starkey's father publicly stated on several occasions that he did not want his son to follow in his footsteps.
However, perhaps inevitably, he began to develop a strong interest in music from a young age. He was given his first drum kit at the age of 10, and received just one lesson from his father before being told that he would have to teach himself. He did this with confident enthusiasm and determination, listening to records and playing along to them.
Interestingly, the band Starkey most enjoyed playing along to was the band that he would later become most famous for playing for; the Who. His childhood hero, the Who's charismatic drummer Keith Moon, was a family friend, and became his musical guru until his death in 1978.
Starkey was playing gigs with bands from as young as 12, and his first serious band, the Next, proved to be too big a distraction from his education, and he left school without a single qualification. By this time, aged 16, Starkey had his heart set on a future in rock 'n' roll.
The Next evolved into Dead Meat in 1980, although Starkey and two other members left later that year, going on to form Monopacific, which despite receiving a fair amount of publicity and generating a significant following, broke up in 1983 before they were able to sign a recording contract.
Following the demise of Monopacific, Starkey went on to perform with an array of famous groups and musicians including drumming briefly with the latter-day Spencer Davis Group in a local recording studio. In late 1984 Starkey joined heavy rock band Nightfly, featuring guitarist Micky Moody (ex-Whitesnake) and bass player Boz Burrell (ex-Bad Company).
In 1985, Eddie Hardin And Zak Starkey's Musical Version Of Wind In The Willows was released - the first release that Starkey was credited for. In the following years he worked on several charity projects before joining Ian McNabb's Icicle Works in 1988, although nothing from his short stint with the band was ever released.
In 1989 Starkey worked on the ASAP project with Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith before collaborating with his father for the first time with the second and third instalments of Ringo's All-Starr Band in 1992 and 1995 respectively.
In 1994 Starkey toured with John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey and Simon Townshend, the younger brother of Who guitarist Pete Townshend. They performed a string of live shows that were billed as "Daltrey Sings Townshend".
Starkey's performances on the drums received fantastic praise, with his technical ability compared to that of Keith Moon. Although it appeared that rather than attempting to replicate Moon's drumming Starkey was able to express his own unique style to great effect.
Starkey formed the short-lived Animal Soup with Simon Townshend before putting together another band, Face, but continued to play drums for variously titled outings featuring the music and members of the Who over the next few years. In 1997 he joined popular UK band the Lightning Seeds, who he remained with until 1999 when he worked on and toured with the British Rock Symphony, performing classic music from the UK's finest rock bands.
The Who began performing again in late 1999, with Starkey joining the band on intermittent tours that continued into the new millennium. He also joined former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on his first solo project, Johnny Marr And The Healers.
In 2004, Starkey was invited to tour with English rock giants Oasis, following the departure of Alan White, and appeared on all but one track on their 2005 album, Don't Believe The Truth. Starkey has politely declined open invitations from Oasis and also the Who to become a full-time member and continues to work with both, among other projects.
The fact that the Who and Oasis are prepared to work around Starkey's availability demonstrates the immense respect that he now commands as a musician. He has stepped out of his father's shadow to become one of the worlds most highly rated rock drummers, with his immense talent and distinctive, heavy, hard-hitting style.
