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Zak Starkey

BAND/AFFILIATION:		The Who/Oasis
BIRTHDAY:		9/13/1965
COUNTRY:		United Kingdom

You could say that Zak Starkey was destined to play the drums. Being the son of none other than Ringo Starr, and spending his teenage years with his uncle "Keith", the one and only Keith Moon, gave Zak a head-start on his drumming career.

Though he recalls his dad giving him one drum lesson and playing along to "Back In The USSR", Zak is self-taught just like his dad. He took to the drums quickly and for his 12th birthday, received a huge drum kit as a gift from his biggest drumming influence, Keith Moon.

He continued playing and by age sixteen, was doing gigs around London. Says, Zak; "When I was about sixteen, there was a studio very close to where I lived that did quite a bit of business. I got to know the studio owner after jamming with him in a pub one night. From then on I started to do a lot of sessions there. It was mostly stuff you've never heard of, but I did some work with the Spencer Davis Group, who had reformed at the time. I was getting paid like fifty pounds a day, and I thought that was it, I had made it."

Zak's career continued to flourish and he appeared on many of the Ringo Starr All Star Band tours through the late 1980s and early 1990s, before getting the call to join The Who in 1994. His lifelong dream had finally come true!

During breaks from Who tours, Zak has kept busy working with a slew of artists, including Johnny Marr & The Healers. In 2004, Zak had a truly rock 'n' roll year recording and performing with The Who as well as Oasis.

Be sure to check him and his oversized crashes out if you have the chance.


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