Celebrate Ringo Starr’s birthday, 83 years old with Peace & Love
Everyone could use a bit of Peace and Love these days, and Ringo Starr wants people to join the movement in honor of his birthday on July 7, 1940
Check out some of the highlights from Ringo’s ongoing trip over the years, starting with this video of Starr breaking down how he plays “Ticket to Ride”, “Come Together” and “Back off Boogaloo” on the drums.
Sir Richard Starkey MBE (born 7 July 1940), better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. He occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help from My Friends”. He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs “Don’t Pass Me By” and “Octopus’s Garden”, and is credited as a co-writer of others.
Sir Richard Starkey Ringo Starr
7 July 1940 (age 83)
Liverpool, England
Occupation: Musician singer songwriter actor
Years active: 1957–present
Spouse(s)
Maureen Cox (m. 1965; div. 1975)
Barbara Bach (m. 1981)
Children
3, including Zak Starkey
Labels
Parlophone United Artists Capitol Apple Swan Vee-Jay Tollie Atlantic RCA Mercury Koch Private Music Boardwalk Rykodisc Hip-O
Member of
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
Formerly of The Beatles, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes
Starr was afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, with periods of prolonged hospitalisation.
When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. After achieving moderate success in the UK and Hamburg, he quit the Hurricanes when he was asked to join the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best.
In addition to the Beatles’ films, Starr has acted in numerous others. After the band’s break-up in 1970, he released several successful singles including the US top-ten hit “It Don’t Come Easy”, and number ones “Photograph” and “You’re Sixteen”. His most successful UK single was “Back Off Boogaloo”, which peaked at number two. He achieved commercial and critical success with his 1973 album Ringo, which was a top-ten release in both the UK and the US. He has featured in numerous documentaries, hosted television shows, narrated the first two series of the children’s television program Thomas & Friends and portrayed “Mr. Conductor” during the first season of the PBS children’s television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, he has toured with thirteen variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.
Starr’s playing style, which emphasised feel over technical virtuosity, influenced many drummers to reconsider their playing from a compositional perspective. He also influenced various modern drumming techniques, such as the matched grip, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings. In his opinion, his finest recorded performance was on the Beatles’ “Rain”. In 1999, he was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame. In 2011, Rolling Stone readers named him the fifth-greatest drummer of all time. He was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a Beatle in 1988 and as a solo artist in 2015, and appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music. In 2020, he was cited as the wealthiest drummer in the world, with a net worth of $350 million.
If you are a fan of The Beatles you might enjoy these videos by Morgan Rees:
The Beatles “Beginning to the End” factoids:
The Beatles “White Album” factoids:
The Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover art factoids:
The making of “YELLOW SUBMARINE” movie:
The Beatles “Rubber Soul”
“Ever Wonder How The Beatles Came Up With Their Name?”
Read an Article about Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Band album:
