What's Left of The Who Announce Their "We Really Mean It This Time" Farewell Tour

[FORD]

Who’s Done


The Who Announce The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour

“All good things must come to an end,” says Pete Townshend. “This tour will be about fond memories, love, and laughter”
May 8, 2025






Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend perform in Barcelona in 2023. Xavi Torrent/Redferns

As predicted, the Who have announced dates for The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour, which they’re billing as their last runs through the United States and Canada before calling it quits. It kicks off Aug. 16 at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, and wraps up Sept. 28 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Ticket sales will begin Tuesday.
“Well, all good things must come to an end,” Pete Townshend said in a statement. “It is a poignant time. For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible. The warmth and engagement of those audiences began back in 1967 with hippies smoking dope, sitting on their blankets, and listening deeply and intensely. Music was everywhere. We all felt equal. Today, Roger and I still carry the banner for the late Keith Moon and John Entwistle and of course, all of our longtime Who fans.
“I must say that although the road has not always been enjoyable for me, it is usually easy: the best job I could ever have had,” he added. “I keep coming back. Every time I do, I meet new fans and feel new energy. Roger and I are in a good place, despite our age, eager to throw our weight behind this fond farewell to all our faithful fans, and hopefully to new ones who might jump in to see what they have been missing for the last 57 years. This tour will be about fond memories, love and laughter. Make sure you join in.”

No other legs of the tour have been announced, but it will likely head overseas at some point. For now, the focus is on North America. “The warmth of the American audiences over the years have been inspirational to me, and reflect the feeling I remember getting after hearing the first rock records coming across the radio,” Roger Daltrey said in a statement. “To me, America has always been great. The cultural differences had a huge impact on me; this was the land of the possible. It’s not easy to end the big part of my life that touring with the Who has been. Thanks for being there for us and look forward to seeing you one last time.”

Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale and through the Who Fan Club beginning on May 13. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning on May 16 at 10 a.m. local time at the band’s website.

As longtime Who fans remember, this is not their first farewell tour. The first one took place back in 1982. “It wasn’t me that said, ‘This is the last tour,'” Townshend told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “It was the Who’s manager. And he did it because it was a ‘ka-ching’ moment. We sold out an arena tour. It wasn’t a very smart thing to do. I should have really protested, but I didn’t. But I felt we could go, ‘I don’t care what the manager says, I don’t care what the record company or the promoter says. If we want to get back together on a tour again, we fuckin’ will.’ It just took a long time.”
They were all in their mid-thirties back then. Townshend and Daltrey will both be in their eighties when this tour starts, significantly upping the likelihood that this one will stick. That said, Dead & Company recently proved that bands can live on after farewell tours with special residencies at places like Sphere.



The Song Is Over North American Farewell Tour
Aug 16 – Sunrise, FL @ Amerant Bank Arena
Aug 19 – Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
Aug 21 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
Aug 23 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall
Aug 26 – Boston, MA @ Fenway Park
Aug 28 – Wantagh, NY @ Northwell at Jones Beach Theater
Aug 30 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
Sep 2 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Sep 4 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage
Sep 7 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
Sep 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Sep 19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl
Sep 21 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
Sep 23 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
Sep 25 – Seattle, WA @ Climate Pledge Arena
Sep 28 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena

[Mushroom]

These guys need to go away as soon as possible. I love their classic rock but Pete can't hear. Roger can't hear and can barely sing. They should have hung it up immediately after the Super Bowl XLIV halftime show on February 7, 2010. They are not any fun any more. Thank you

[Kristy]

"This tour will be about milking fans, money, and more money”


At least they know when to hang it up.


Unlike slave FORD's other homoerotic limey obsession.

[FORD]

What's Left of The Who Fires Ringo's Kid..... AGAIN.

Zak Starkey is out as the Who‘s drummer — and no, this is not a month-old story coming up in your feed. The longtime drummer for the band has been let go for a second time, and presumably for good, in advance of the group going out on a farewell tour — news that was made public on social media first by guitarist Pete Townshend, then confirmed by a displeased Starkey.

Starkey said that he had been asked to claim he was quitting this time of his own accord instead of being fired, but “this would be a lie. I love the Who and would never had quit,” he wrote, in his version of what has gone down amid “this madness.”

Townshend first broke the news in text posted as an overlay to a photo on his Instagram account: “After many years of great work on drums from Zak the time has come for a change. A poignant time. Zak has lots of new projects in hand and I wish him the best.”

Townshend also used the post to announce the drummer who will apparently answer the question “who’s last?” for the farewell outing. “Scott Devours who has worked with Roger’s solo band will join the Who for our Final shows. Please welcome him.”

In response, Starkey wrote, “I was fired two weeks after reinstatement and asked to make a statement saying I had quit the who to pursue my other musical endeavors this would be a lie. I love the who and would never had quit. So I didn’t make the statement ….quitting the who would also have let down the countless amazing people who stood up for me (thank you all a million times over and more) thru the weeks of mayhem of me going ‘in an out an in an out an in an out like a bleedin squeezebox.”

It’s been one month since the drummer was announced as having been dismissed from the band and then was quickly rehired. So Starkey saying now that he was let go again two weeks after being redrafted for the group would suggest that this second sacking happened about two weeks ago but is just now coming to light.

Starkey had previously been let go after the band played Teenage Cancer Trust charity concerts in March at London’s Royal Albert Hall, during which singer Roger Daltrey was visibly unhappy at how portions of the show proceeded.

The news of Starkey’s first firing came on April 16, when a Who rep released a statement saying: “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.”

That initial severance led Starkey to get snarky: His cheeky post about the first firing had him calling Daltrey “Toger Dakrey,” and saying the singer was “bringing formal charges of overplaying” against him. But the drummer, who is Ringo Starr’s son, also was upfront about his sadness in losing the part-time job he’d held since coming on board for a “Quadrophenia” revival tour in 1996. He said then that he was “surprised and saddened anyone would have an issue with my performance that night” at Royal Albert Hall, “but what can you do?”

Yet, in keeping with the Easter season, Starkey was resurrected by the band three days later, as Townshend took to his social media then to declare: “News Flash! Who back Zak! … Zak is not being asked to step down from the Who. There have been some communication issues, personal and private on all sides, that needed to be dealt with, and these have been aired happily.”

But now the 30-year relationship between Starkey and Who mainstays Townshend and Daltrey is ending unhappily-ever-after, after all.

Fan reactions in response to Townshend’s Instagram post were decidedly mixed, with some saying they cannot fathom the modern-day incarnation of the Who without Starkey in tow; others were saying that his replacement, Devours, is a proven quantity who did a fine job in previous stints when he was called upon to fill in for Starkey. In the comments on Starkey’s post, the drummer was getting unanimous support — and outrage — from friends and fans, including Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, who wrote in the replies, “Zak! These guys are whack!”

This marks the second sacking of a very high-profile fill-in drummer in short order, following Josh Freese having just been fired as Foo Fighters’ drummer, although Freese’s tenure with that group was measured in months and not the decades that Starkey spent filling Keith Moon’s shoes. Indeed, comments immediately arose among fans — some jocular, some serious — that Starkey might be in line to take over in the Foos for Freese.