Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr was The Beatles' drummer and occasional singer. He was the oldest member and the last to join the band.

Ringo's a damn good drummer. He was always a good drummer. He's not technically good, but I think Ringo's drumming is underrated the same way as Paul's bass playing is underrated...

I think Paul and Ringo stand up anywhere with any of the rock musicians. Not technically great. None of us were technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make noise, they're as good as anybody!

The early years

Ringo was born Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940, at 9 Madryn Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool. His parents split up when he was three, and his mother Elsie remarried a man called Harry Graves. Graves got on well with Richard and encouraged the boy's passion for music.

A sickly child, Starkey spent long stretches in hospital. Among his afflictions were a coma caused by appendicitis, a cold which led to pleurisy, and various allergies and intolerances to certain foods. His illnesses made him fall behind academically, and he didn't return to school after a stay in hospital which began at the age of 13.

Known as Ritchie as a teenager, Starkey became infatuated with the skiffle craze which swept Liverpool and elsewhere in the 1950s. He co-founded the Eddie Miles Band, which later became Eddie Clayton and the Clayton Squares, and in 1959 joined the Raving Texans - backing band for local singer Rory Storm.

It was while playing in these Liverpool bands that he gained the nickname Ringo Starr - the first part due to the rings he wore, and the second because his solos - which Ringo performed reluctantly - could be billed as 'Starr Time'.

With The Beatles

Ringo met The Beatles in Hamburg in October 1960. At the time he was performing with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, but stepped in on a number of occasions when Pete Best was unavailable. At the time there was a sense of solidarity among the British groups in Hamburg, and The Beatles got to know Starr well.

When George Martin demanded that Best be replaced, The Beatles insisted that Ringo was the best drummer for them. The decision was controversial among the group's fans, who demanded "Pete forever! Ringo never!" at The Cavern, and fights broke out.

However, Starr didn't play drums on The Beatles' first single, Love Me Do. Martin brought session drummer Andy White in for the session, relegating Starr to tambourine on Love Me Do, and maracas on its b-side PS I Love You. From then on Ringo played on virtually all The Beatles' recordings.

Ringo Starr quickly established himself as a rock-steady drummer, whose open hi-hat and four-to-the-floor bass drum helped energise The Beatles' sound. He was a reliable performer who made only a handful of mistakes during the band's recording career.

A left-handed drummer who performed on a kit conventionally set up for a right-handed player, Ringo formed a distinctive sound - not least his 'backwards' fills which were created by leading with the 'wrong' hand. As Ian MacDonald noted, "Starr would, during fills, come off the snare onto the tom-toms with his left hand leading so that he could only progress 'backwards' from floor tom to small tom or from small tom to snare.

His droll variations on this, including rolling off the hi-hat, delighted orthodox drummers and added to the newness of The Beatles' sound.

Examples of his characteristic fills can be found on A Day In The Life, Hey Jude, and the Paperback Writer b-side Rain - which Starr considers to be his best drumming.

'Ringoisms' - expressions coined by Starr and adopted by the band - were used by John Lennon for the titles of A Hard Day's Night and Tomorrow Never Knows. He also contributed the line "Darning his socks in the night" to Eleanor Rigby.

He became the central character in the films Help! and Yellow Submarine - which were a testament to his popularity as a band member. A Hard Day's Night, too, showed his natural ability as an actor, though he subsequently downplayed his performance, claiming he was hungover on the shoot.

Starr walked out during the recording of the White Album, after becoming tired of The Beatles' in-fighting. Away for two weeks, Paul McCartney played the drums on Back In The USSR and Dear Prudence.

Starr spent two weeks with Peter Sellers on his yacht, where he wrote Octopus's Garden. The others urged him to come back with telegrams and phone messages, and upon his return George Harrison decorated the studio with flowers saying "Welcome home".

Ringo sang on at least one song on The Beatles' studio albums, with the exception of A Hard Day's Night and Let It Be, and his vocal spots became particular live favourites for the group's fans. In the early days he was given a mixture of cover versions or Lennon-McCartney originals - often ones they did not want to sing themselves.

He composed two original songs during his time with The Beatles: Don't Pass Me By and Octopus's Garden. He also established a co-credit on What Goes On from Rubber Soul, which was listed as being written by Lennon-McCartney-Starkey.

The Magical Mystery Tour instrumental Flying, and Let It Be's Dig It, were group compositions credited to Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey, as were Free As A Bird, 12-Bar Original, Los Paranoias, Christmas Time (Is Here Again), Suzy Parker and Jessie's Dream.

The solo years

Starr released two albums in 1970, the year of The Beatles' breakup. Sentimental Journey was his nostalgic take on a number of post-war standards, and Beaucoups Of Blues indulged his interest in country music.

The singles It Don't Come Easy (1971) and Back Off Boogaloo (1972) were hits, and Photograph, co-written with George Harrison, was a US number one, as was You're Sixteen. His 1973 album Ringo remains his biggest commercial success, although Starr is the only former Beatle not to top the UK single or album charts as a solo performer.

Ringo Starr played drums on Harrison's All Things Must Pass and Living In The Material World, and appeared at the Concert for Bangladesh. He also played on John Lennon's solo album Plastic Ono Band. Lennon returned the favour, writing the title track of the Goodnight Vienna album, and I'm The Greatest on Ringo.

In the mid 1970s Ringo's musical career declined, with a series of albums provided diminishing returns. Harrison gave him a song for the album Stop And Smell The Roses, but Starr felt uncomfortable performing it. Harrison rewrote it and recorded it himself as All Those Years Ago, following the death of John Lennon; Starr played on it, along with Paul and Linda McCartney.

Lennon had also given Starr a song for Stop And Smell The Roses. However, he was uncomfortable recording the song in the wake of his friend's murder, and Lennon's version was eventually released posthumously on the album Milk And Honey.

Ringo guested on McCartney's 1982 album Tug Of War, and in 1987 performed on George Harrison's hit single When We Was Fab. Two years later he formed Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, in which a number of musicians from various other acts featured. Their live shows were a success and led to a new record deal for Starr.

In 1997 he appeared on Paul McCartney's album Flaming Pie. He played initially on the song Beautiful Night, and went on to jam. From this came a new song, Really Love You, which was credit to McCartney-Starkey - a first.

In 2002 he was inducted into the Percussive Hall of Fame, and in 2006 toured once again with the All Starr Band. His album Liverpool 8 was released in January 2008, coinciding with Liverpool's status as European Capital of Culture.

To this day, Ringo Starr still performs and appears in public, and works on a range of musical, film and other media projects.

Family affairs

Ringo Starr married Maureen Cox on 11 February 1967. They had three children - Zak, Jason and Lee - before divorcing in 1975. Cox died in 1994.

Starr met Barbara Bach on the set of the film Caveman in 1980. They married the following year on 27 April.

Zak Starkey is also a drummer. Ringo arranged for him to have lessons with The Who's Keith Moon, a close friend of the family. Zak went on to perform with The Who, Oasis, and the All-Starr Band.

Related articles:

• Zak Starkey is born
• Ringo Starr is born
• Jason Starkey is born
• Ringo Starr albums
• Ringo's first official show as a Beatle