"So this is America. They must be out of their minds". -Ringo Starr ![]() Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, on July 7, 1940. Named after his father, Ritchie, as he was called, was the only child of Richard Starkey and Elsie Gleave. The family resided at 9 Madryn Street, in a poor and rough working class section of Liverpool known as the Dingle until his parents divorced when Starr was only three. Ritchie's early life was filled with health problems. By the age of 13 Starr had already suffered from acute appendicitis and pleurisy. He had spent years in and out of the hospital and his extended illness had left him severly behind in school. At the age of 15 Ringo left school for good and went out to search for a job. "When I was thirteen, I only wanted to be a drummer," remembers Starr. His stepfather bought him a new drum kit and Richard promised to be the best musician, ever. Four years later at age seventeen, he joined the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Band. ![]() On February 11, 1965, Ringo Starr married his Liverpool sweetheart, Maureen Cox. They had met back in the Cavern days when she had been a student hairdresser. Their love endured the manifestations of Beatlemania, his move to London, the seemingly endless rounds of tours, and the fact that their romance had to be kept secret from the fans. Ringo Starr had three children with Maureen, they eventually divorced and in 1981 he married Barbara Bach. His son, Zak Starkey, is also a highly respected and prolific drummer, who until August 2008 was a semi-official member and drummer in Oasis, one of the many bands influenced by The Beatles. Ringo Starr arranged for Zak to receive drumming instruction from Zak's idol, The Who's late drummer Keith Moon, who was Zak's godfather and a close friend of Starr's. Ringo Starr generally sang at least one song on each of the Beatle's albums. Often times John Lennon or Paul McCartney would write the lyrics and melody especially for him. Often these melodies would be deliberately limited to take into account Starr's vocal range, most of With A Little Help From My Friends is sung within the space of five notes. Starr helped contribute a number of lyric ideas and song titles to the group. One of the most famous examples of this was the title for the band's first motion picture, A Hard Day's Night. Starr had emerged from the studio after a long day of work and commented to the others that it had been a "hard day's..." - before he finished his sentence, Starr noticed that it was now night time and added "night". Although some have tried to downplay his contributions to the band, Starr's unique drumming style played a major role in the overall sound of The Beatles. To this day, many drummers list Starr as a major influence. According to Phil Collins, Ringo is vastly underrated. The drum fills on "A Day In The Life" are very complex things. You could take a great drummer today and say, 'I want it like that.' They wouldn't know what to do." Lennon, McCartney and Harrison have all said that Ringo Starr was the best rock and roll drummer in the world. Ringo Starr wanted to be a professional actor, more so than the other Beatles. He received great reviews for his performances in A Hard Day's Night and Help!. Ringo Starr's passion for creating music continued to propel him forward, and in 1971 he began his unprecedented run as the first solo Beatle to score seven consecutive Top 10 singles, starting with the release of "It Don't Come Easy." His second hit single, "Back Off Boogaloo"/"Blindman" followed in 1972, and was written with and inspired by T Rex frontman Marc Bolan. In 1973, Starr released his self-titled smash hit Ringo, which yielded three Top 10 singles, including the #1 hits "Photograph"/"Down and Out," and "You're Sixteen (You're Beautiful And You're Mine)." Ringo also marked the first time since the breakup that all of The Beatles participated in the same project, though not at the same time. In November of 2002, Starr performed "Photograph," a composition he wrote with George Harrison, at the Concert for George held in London, on the first anniversary of Harrison's death. The song includes the lines, "Every time I see your face / it reminds me of the places we used to go / But all I've got is a photograph / and I realize you're not coming back anymore", and brought the crowd to tears. Ringo Starr divides his time between his residences in England, in Switzerland and his home in Los Angeles, California. |