Zak Starkey — who’s had a bit of an eventful week — recently shared an unreleased, all-star cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” recorded for a charity album that’s yet to receive a proper announcement.
The cover, which you can hear below, features Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Elton John and Starkey’s father, Ringo Starr.
The Who drummer posted the song on social media in February with its accompanying video, which tells the story of a young cancer victim. In light of Starkey’s recent firing and rehiring from the Who, the song has begun to circulate more heavily online. The cover is designed to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
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“Ringo/Elton/Axl/Duff/Slash. C’mon amazing people – let’s get this record out and [help] these teenagers who, as musicians, we rely on so much,” Starkey said on Instagram. “If we wait much longer some of the these brave young people may not have enough time to hear it.”
He added of the track: “This is the first half, then it gets wild!!! Everything generated by this record … goes to teenage cancer – if it gets released, which depends totally on the amazing participants giving us the green light.”
Zak Starkey Reveals How Star-Studded T. Rex Cover Came Together
Starkey revealed the song’s existence in 2024, saying it dated back to 2017 when Guns N’ Roses and the Who played at Rock in Rio. “My dad played drums in L.A. (while I fudged the bass) then in Rio Duff cut bass,” he said.
“A couple of weeks after the tour we cut guitars in NYC with Slash – sent the track with Sshh [Starkey’s wife, musician Sshh Liguz] guide vocal to Elton, who played amazing piano. Sshh went to hang with Axl who said he’d like to sing it – wow! Axl killed it – amazing vocals – he’s mixing the track now I believe (hope).”
Starkey also said the album features “more than one Beatle, a Smith, a Pretender, an Ashcroft, an Iggy and many more,” and expressed his desire to see it launched “without greedy bean counting majors wanting 75% (I won’t say which label, but fuck me, this is for sick kids).”
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
