The Beatles legend Ringo Starr has defended his son Zak Starkey after the drummer was sacked from The Who following a dispute with frontman Roger Daltrey.

Starkey, 59, who had played with the band since 1996, was let go for a second time in May after an on-stage disagreement at a Royal Albert Hall concert in March.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Starkey claimed it was Daltrey, 81, who made the mistake during the group’s performance of The Song Is Over, insisting the singer “came in four bars early”.

“He just got lost,” Starkey said. “He blamed it on the drums being too loud and then it got made into this huge social media thing.”

Footage from the night showed Daltrey turning to Starkey and saying: “To sing that song I do need to hear the key and I can’t. All I’ve got is drums going boom boom boom.”

Starkey initially apologised on social media, writing: “Sorry Rog I dropped a few beats,” after reportedly being urged to do so by guitarist Pete Townshend. Townshend later said: “Roger did nothing wrong but fiddle with his in-ear monitors. Zak made a few mistakes and he has apologised.”

Despite being reinstated shortly after, Starkey was sacked again weeks later. Townshend said at the time: “The time has come for a change.”

Starkey told Rolling Stone that his father, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, 84, had backed him after the split. “I’ve never liked the way that little man [Daltrey] runs that band,” Starr reportedly said.

“I’m very proud of my dad for standing up for me,” Starkey added. 

When asked if financial reasons were behind his departure, Starkey said: “Roger is quite renowned… I once asked John Entwistle [former Who bassist] if Roger still had the money from the last Who tour. He goes, ‘He’s still got the money from the first one.’”

Despite the fallout, Starkey said he would still consider a return. “Of course I would go back if they asked,” he said, adding that Daltrey had recently told him: “Don’t take your drums out of the warehouse, we might be calling you.”

Daltrey, who has previously spoken about hearing loss, told fans earlier this year: “Not only am I going deaf, I’m also now going blind.”

“Fortunately I still have my voice because if I lose that I’ll have the full Tommy,” he said, referring to the band’s 1969 rock opera about a “deaf, dumb and blind” character.

Starkey, the godson of the late Keith Moon, is expected to be replaced ahead of The Who’s US tour this summer.