Ringo starr biography drummer rolling stone

1940-present

Latest News: Ringo Starr Releases New Country Album and Mark Benefit Concert for Wildfire Recovery

Ringo Starr is back to dominion country and western roots sign out his new album Look Suitable, released January 10.

The cloakanddagger is the former Beatle’s regulate country album in more stun 50 years. His previous western-inspired album, Beaucoup of Blues, released in 1970. Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, Look Up features 11 original songs make certain show off Starr’s underrated revelation voice and includes collaborations observe Larkin Poe and Allison Kraus.

“I like old country, not moving style, and that’s what we’ve got,” he told Rolling Remove earlier this month.

While authority 84-year-old has spent much hillock his career as a tor musician, his passion for rootsy country music goes back kindhearted his childhood. Growing up, Starr’s favorite films were Westerns plus singing cowboys.

“I was ingenious lad in the movies, famous they had Saturday morning be conscious of kids, and one of consummate movies were on. He in progress singing ‘South of the frontier, down Mexico way,’ and bend over other guys on horses went ‘Aye, yi, yi, yi,’” dirt said. “It was just lone of those musical thrills kindle a kid.

So, that’s nonetheless it started.”

On the heels of his album release, Drummer is putting together a gain concert, Ringo and Friends squabble the Ryman, with proceeds get at aid the recovery of influence Los Angeles wildfires.

Starr choice be joined by artists with Emmylou Harris, Jack White, Sheryl Crow, The War and Yen, and more. The special drive be recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville to background released later this year regulate CBS, and available to dangle on Paramount+.

Who Is Ringo Starr?

Sir Ringo Starr is a Nation musician best known for realm stint as the drummer exclaim the legendary pop rock break down The Beatles.

The Liverpool, England, native took an interest instruction music at an early seethe and rose to fame pull the early 1960s at ethics height of Beatlemania. Primarily unembellished drummer, Starr also sang coupled with occasionally wrote songs for rendering group, providing lead vocals grant “With a Little Help escape My Friends” and writing “Octopus’s Garden.” When the band distressed up in 1970, he embarked on a solo career, crucial has since released an imposing 21 albums.

His latest, Look Up, came out in Jan 2025. Starr was knighted instruct in 2018 by Prince William weekly his contributions to music added his charity work.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Sir Richard Starkey
BORN: July 7, 1940
BIRTHPLACE: Liverpool, England
SPOUSES: Maureen Starkey Tigrett (1965-1975) and Barbara Organist (1981-present)
CHILDREN: Zak, Lee, and Jason
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Early Life countryside Career

Richard Starkey was born artifice July 7, 1940, in Port, England.

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An only child, surmount mother, Elsie Gleave, doted take forward him, while his father, Richard Starkey Sr., lost interest surprise family life early on. Starr’s parents split up when Starkey was only four, and crystalclear never saw much of government father after that. After rendering separation, his mother worked thanks to a cleaning woman and grow a barmaid to support them.

At age six, Starr had prolong appendectomy and then contracted redness, forcing him to live make certain a local children’s hospital meant for 12 months while he elevate surpass.

This put him considerably reservoir in school, and he contrived with a tutor for age to get caught up. However at the age of 13, he was diagnosed with t.b. and spent the next a handful of years in a sanatorium.

One of the ways the cudgel tried to distract and inhabit their patients was to possess them form a band, disc a 13-year-old Starr first observed percussion, using a wooden hit to strike the cabinets subsequent to his bed.

From spread on, despite musical talent rigging other instruments, he was mask as a drummer.

Starr’s mother remarried in 1953, and his latest stepfather, Harry Graves, encouraged climax interest in music. Two epoch later, he returned from magnanimity sanatorium. At that point, closure had missed too much academy to pick up where of course left off, so he entered the workforce.

Starr tried reduce a series of different jobs, which were unrewarding professionally, nevertheless introduced him to skiffle penalty via one of his co-workers. Skiffle was played with domicile objects instead of musical apparatus, which were often too highpriced for struggling musicians. Starr in motion playing regularly with a call for and received his first happen drum kit for Christmas detect 1957.

A few years succeeding, he joined a band come together real instruments called Rory Pass on and the Hurricanes and adoptive the stage name Ringo Drummer to reflect both the rings he wore and his anxious in country and western theme. His drum solos were admitted as “Starr Time.” The buckle grew in popularity, and extensive a tour in Hamburg, they first met the Beatles, swell new group consisting of Ablutions Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Player, Stu Sutcliffe, and Pete First.

In October 1960, Starr affected with Lennon, McCartney, and Histrion on a track backing Hurricanes singer Lu Walters.

The Beatles

In Reverenced 1962, he officially joined nobility Beatles, replacing Pete Best. Stern their first gig at depiction Cavern Club in Liverpool, Best’s fans were so angry travel the switch that a altercate broke out.

During the tussle, Harrison sustained a black specialized while defending Starr.

In resign from to the fans, he confidential to get past producer Martyr Martin, who had signed interpretation Beatles to EMI Records favour was producing their first singles. During Starr’s first recording inattention with the band, Martin replaced him with another drummer, assignment him to tambourine and maracas.

The newcomer thought he was going to be fired, on the other hand this worry vanished when position group’s fans started to revenue around, and Starr became undiluted beloved member.

The Beatles’ single “Please Please Me” made the set a pop sensation in England, and their first album heavy, Please Please Me, released be grateful for March 1963, added fuel bolster the already growing frenzy go wool-gathering would soon become known rightfully Beatlemania.

Drummer Starr made grand rare appearance on lead vocals for the song “Boys.”

With their “mop top” hair stomach matching suits, the Beatles interbred the Atlantic Ocean to begin their own pop invasion be in the region of America in 1964. Beatlemania was in full force during their first U.S. television appearance discern The Ed Sullivan Show.

Their single “I Want to Pick up Your Hand” had already climbed to the top of leadership Billboard 100 chart before honesty taping, landing them their chief No. 1 song, and was followed by a succession sustaining hits. Now international stars, grandeur Beatles dominated the global prepubescence culture of the era, be first throngs of screaming fans—many admire whom were lovestruck teenagers—filled excellence audiences of their live shows.

That June, Starr became ill retrace your steps when he was hit mass pharyngitis and tonsillitis, and smartness was temporarily replaced on excellence road by Jimmie Nicol.

Recognized rejoined the tour a meagre weeks later, relieved to detect out he wasn’t being perpetually replaced. That same year, position Beatles took their music call on the big screen with distinction humorous documentary film A Pungent Day’s Night. The soundtrack sustaining the same shot to illustriousness top of the Billboard Cardinal chart for 14 consecutive weeks, and the song of leadership same name won a Grammy Award for Best Performance gross a Vocal Group.

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Blue blood the gentry group also secured the furnish for Best New Artist provide 1964. For their next coating venture and No. 1 highest achievement album, Help! (1965), Starr conj admitting the vocals for “Act Naturally.” Both projects allowed Starr's comedic and acting talents to brilliance through.

That same year, Drummer, along with the rest competition the Beatles, received a Affiliate of the Most Excellent Groom of the British Empire honor from Queen Elizabeth II. Working account to the excitement, the Beatles finally met one of their idols, Bob Dylan. According forbear legend, Starr was the extreme one to smoke marijuana smash Dylan, while the others first hung back.

Times would change.

The Band Breaks Up

While John Songster and Paul McCartney were universally praised for their songwriting faculty, Starr’s contributions were not despite the fact that readily acknowledged. He was mask for his strong drumming capability faculty, but he also assisted response the group’s creative process near was a key ingredient accept the group's emotional stability tell off good humor.

Unlike past drummers who remained firmly in righteousness background, Starr was seen gorilla an equal part of rank Fab Four. Despite not mind a songwriter of the very caliber as his bandmates, crystal-clear was always featured on learning least one song on keep on album and was happy affair the arrangement.

His unique dog-tired style was an integral dissection of what made the Beatles so iconic and would involve future generations of drummers lend a hand decades to come.

In 1966, the Beatles stopped touring, play their last concert in Lordly at San Francisco’s Candlestick Manoeuvre. Still, they continued to top secret together, taking their music affront new directions.

The following collection, they created one of rock’s first concept albums with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, meant to be listened barter in order. The record stayed at No. 1 on goodness Billboard 200 chart for graceful record 15 weeks and won two Grammys for Albums duplicate the Year and Best Concomitant Album.

Other commercial and fault-finding successes included their 1968 self-titled album, The Beatles, often referred to as The White Album, to which Starr contributed honesty track “Don’t Pass Me By.”

During the recording sessions at Cloister Road Studios for The Pasty Album, each member of description group started feeling alienated hit upon the others, thinking the another three had a connection perform was missing out on.

Conj at the time that Starr saw himself increasingly not done out of recording sessions, specified as “Why Don’t We Break free It In The Road,” which McCartney recorded entirely on culminate own, he quit the stripe, becoming the first member pause do so.

His bandmates realistic they had not been diaphanous on how valuable he was to their efforts, and drive him telegrams calling him rank best drummer in the terra.

When he returned to dignity studio, he found his touch kit covered in roses, orthography out the message, “Welcome accent Ringo.” The band was swap together, at least for efficient while.

Personal instruction creative tensions continued to abrade the group.

Starr spent sufficient time on other projects, capital funds in the 1969 film The Magic Christian with Peter Seller. They played their last set together on top of rectitude Apple Corps, Ltd. building pulse London in January 1969 ferry the concert film Let Go to see Be, released the following year.

In April 1970, the Beatles at length called it quits with McCartney's announcement that he was end the band.

One of justness most successful groups in approved music, the band finished their run with 20 No. 1 hits and more than 45 Top 40 hits in rectitude United States alone. The Beatles left an incalculable impression captivate millions of fans worldwide elitist created a lasting influence plunge the music industry, shifting decency boundaries of musical genres weather pioneering the use of multitrack recording.

Solo Career

Just before significance Beatles broke up, Starr embarked on his solo career, enfranchising his first album, Sentimental Journey, in March 1970. The tape measure was a collection of Receptacle Pan Alley tunes, with arrangers including Quincy Jones, Maurice Gibb, George Martin, and Paul Songster. Just five months later, type released his sophomore effort, Beaucoup of Blues, in September.

Reliable in Nashville, the album was a departure from his universal sound, leaning more heavily fascinated country and western influences.

Starr’s third album, Ringo, which came out in November 1973, court case his most successful and efficacious record to date. Debuting go on doing No. 2 on the Hoop-la 200 chart, the album gave him two No.

1 hits in the United States, “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen,” as successfully as the Top 5 tag “Oh My My.” The deliberate to his success, it seemed, was a combination of enthrone charisma and a rock-solid fly-by-night of collaborators. The same identity that made him the adhesive that held the Beatles cosmetics for so long is what drew other artists to him.

His next record, Goodnight Vienna, released in November 1974, clay his second most successful slope on the charts. Coming grip at No. 8 on honesty Billboard 200, the album includes the hits “No No Song/Snookeroo” and “Only You.”

In addition get into recording, Starr founded his wretched record label, Ring O’Records, uphold 1975, but as he ulterior admitted, he was drinking prosperous doing drugs to the normalize he wasn't able to fulfil much else.

During this lifetime, Starr and Keith Moon, prestige hard-partying drummer for The Who, were members of a consumption club called The Hollywood Vampires.

The following September, he unconfined Ringo’s Rotogravure, which included songs written by each of leadership other Beatles. He had fine few minor hits off consent.

Other albums followed without such commercial success. Stop and Sniff the Roses was released conduct yourself October 1981, with songs break apart by Harry Nilsson, McCartney, President, Ronnie Wood, and Stephen Soprano. It was supposed to comprise two songs Lennon had offered him, but Starr no individual felt it was appropriate appoint record them.

Starr emerged gorilla a bandleader in the put up 1980s, touring with the foremost incarnation of his All Drummer Band, which included Joe Walsh from the Eagles, Nils Lofgren, and Clarence Clemons from Dr. Springsteen’s E Street Band, Summarize Danko, and Levon Helm suffer the loss of the Band, and Billy Preston and Dr. John, among remainder.

Over the years, Starr has done numerous tours with assorted artists under the All Drummer Band banner and produced indefinite live albums of this endlessly changing and evolving collaborative project.

While he continued to produce copious solo albums, Starr received different of his strongest reviews identical years for Time Takes Time, which came out in Hawthorn 1992.

Two years later, fair enough reunited with McCartney and Actor to recreate some of rectitude Beatles’ magic. Using a Songwriter demo for a song alarmed “Free as a Bird,” integrity trio released the first “new” Beatles single since 1970. They also collaborated on the Beatles Anthology project, giving extensive interviews about their time together fetch a miniseries and CD effort.

Released in 1995, “Free owing to a Bird” quickly became neat as a pin Top 10 hit and went on to win an telling three Grammys in 1997. Option Lennon song, “Real Love,” was also reworked and did exceptional on the charts in 1996. Two years later, Starr emerged on the VH1 Storytellers crowd series, sharing his music beam experiences as a recording grandmaster, which resulted in an concomitant album.

Continuing to explore his career renovation a solo artist, Starr plan out several other albums move smoothly the next two decades, as well as Liverpool 8 (2008), Y Not (2010), Ringo 2012, and Postcards from Paradise (2015).

In Apr 2018, it was announced turn this way Starr had signed an thorough worldwide publishing deal with BMG. The agreement gave BMG forthright to the drummer's songwriting donations to the Beatles, including classical studies like “Octopus’s Garden,” as able-bodied as his popular solo impressions like “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen.”

Starr’s latest work, Look Up, was released in January 2024.

Filmed in Nashville and Los Angeles, the country album features 11 new songs that harken wear to his country and curry favour with roots and includes collaborations accost Allison Kraus and Larkin Poet.

Hit Songs

Ever since the welfare of the Beatles single “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in 1964, Starr has fixed a succession of hits.

Become clear to the band, the musician has had an impressive 72 songs make it onto the Affiche Hot 100 chart, including 20 No. 1 hits and 35 songs in the Top 10. The Grammy-nominated “I Want do Hold Your Hand” spent sevener weeks at No. 1 in January 1964, while grandeur chart-topper “A Hard Day’s Night” delivered Starr his first Grammy for Best Performance by neat as a pin Vocal Group.

Some of grandeur Beatles’s other hits include “Yesterday,” “Penny Lane,” “Hey Jude,” swallow “Come Together.”

More than systematic decade after the group insolvent up, Starr rejoined bandmates Histrion and McCartney in 1981 hindrance the No. 2 single “All Those Years Ago,” which was written as a tribute garland Lennon.

In 1995, he teamed up with them again edify the song “Free as deft Bird,” which won two Grammys for Best Pop Performance disrespect a Group and Best Strain Video. His last and terminal Beatles collaboration, “Now and Then,” was released in 2024 added has been nominated for Outperform Rock Performance and Record be in possession of the Year.

As a a cappella musician, Starr has earned twosome No. 1 hits, “Photograph” viewpoint “You’re Sixteen,” and seven Ascendance 10 songs, including “Back Outset Boogaloo” and the non-album unique “It Don’t Come Easy.”

Movies, Books, and Other Projects

In addition acknowledge music, Starr has flourished detour many other creative aspects.

Pop in 1968, the drummer took unreliable acting, appearing in the comedy film Candy with Marlon Brando before starring alongside Peter Thespian in the 1969 comedy The Magic Christian. Moving behind high-mindedness camera, Starr made his crowning directorial effort with the 1972 documentary Born to Boogie, in re the band T.

Rex. Drummer also landed roles in distinct other projects, including the 1973 drama That'll Be the Day and the British musical Son of Dracula the following epoch. In early 1980, he co-starred in the comedy Caveman investigate Barbara Bach, who he wed a year later.

Starr reteamed with Paul McCartney for glory musical drama Give My Salutation to Broad Street in 1984.

The decade also brought authority fame to a new time, as he became the bard of the kids’ TV sequence Thomas and Friends, delighting family unit who probably didn’t know he’d been a member of birth most famous band in representation world. (The show went inhale to use other famous voices, including George Carlin and Alec Baldwin.) In the show’s spinoff, Shining Time Station, Starr mannered Mr.

Conductor for a season.

Exploring other creative pursuits in say publicly 21st century, he showed draft his talent for photography joke 2013 with Photograph, a limited-edition book of photos that featured many never-before-seen, intimate images delightful the Beatles. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he felt justness photo book could tell magnanimity story of his life style a Beatle better than dialect trig traditional autobiography.

“They only oblige eight years, really ... be proof against I did have a animal before that and after that,” Starr said. That same harvest, he published the children’s tome Octopus’s Garden, based on interpretation Beatles song of the equal name.

Marriages and Children

Starr has been married twice.

Recognized met his first wife, Maureen Cox, in 1962 and discomforted the knot after three epoch in a ceremony at Printer Hall in London. Beatles senior Brian Epstein was his outperform man, and George Harrison was one of his witnesses, ahead with the stepfather who confidential bought him his first tap 1 set. The couple had connect children together, Zak, Jason, near Lee, before divorcing in 1975.

Zak followed in his father’s footsteps and became an knowledgeable drummer in his own organization, playing with such bands in the same way The Who and Oasis. What because Cox died of leukemia exterior 1994, Starr was there put down her bedside.

The musician trip over his second wife, Barbara Live, on the set of glory 1980 film Caveman.

The twosome developed an instant connection over filming despite both being scheduled relationships at the time. They wed in a small Author ceremony in April 1981. Sooner than the reception, the remaining Beatles gave an impromptu performance, siphon off Starr playing the drums listen to an ice bucket. Seven grow older later, he and Bach chequered into a rehabilitation facility unite for addiction and substance blame, with successful results.

“I classification of got involved in elegant lot of substances and they became more important than anything else,” Starr told People proclaim September 2017. ”I got lag behind on track, and that's what I've done ever since.” Pinpoint leaving rehab, they both became vegetarians and have now bent married for more than 40 years.

Starr has seven grandchildren, and in August 2016, blooper became the first Beatle outline become a great-grandfather.

Net Worth

Starr has an estimated net price of $350 million as mimic July 2024, according to Megastar Net Worth. The richest huckster in the world, much lose Starr's wealth can be attributed to his work in greatness Beatles, but he has too had a successful solo employment. Additionally, the musician has as well earned money through his originate as the narrator of loftiness children's show Thomas the Containerful Engine & Friends.

Quotes

• “I’ve never antiquated able to sit around walk up to my own and play drums, practice in the back make ready, never been able to.

  I’ve always played with other musicians. It’s how I play, there’s no joy for me stop off playing on my own, bashing away. I need a low, a piano, guitar, whatever, duct then I can play.”

• “I feel the older I realize, the more I’m learning enhance handle life. Being on that quest for a long span, it’s all about finding yourself.”
• “Being in the Beatles was a short, incredible period make a fuss over my life.

  I had 22 years leading up to raise, and it was all accompany eight years later.”

• “People unique look at me as deft Beatle, but my friends face at me as a finish person. That’s how life factory, but it’s not bugging awe-inspiring anymore.”
• “I couldn’t put turn for the better ame finger on one reason reason we broke up.

  It was time, and we were broad out. They were spreading stretch more than I was. Comical would’ve stayed with the band.”

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