Ringo Starr biography
Written by Patrick Payne

Richard Starkey was born on July 7th 1940 in Liverpool, England to a dockworker and a baker. He was three years old when his parents broke up. Later on his mother married Harry Graves, who Richard referred to as his “step ladder.” Richard remembers a happy childhood despite frequent illness and hospitalization, the first being at age 6 when he was admitted for appendicitis. The hospital can be a boring and lonely place for a six-year-old boy so Richard’s parents brought him two toys to occupy him, a red bus and his very first drum.

In 1959 Richard joined Rory Storm and The Hurricanes as their new drummer. It was Rory who convinced Richard Starkey to change his name to the shorter and catchier Ringo Starr. In the fall of 1960 The Hurricanes were headlining consistently at the Kaiserkeller in Hamburg. It was here that Ringo met The Beatles, then the opening act. Two years later The Hurricanes’ career was beginning to stagnate, and The Beatles invited Ringo to drum for them, he quickly accepted, performing with them for the first time on August 18th 1962.

Once Ringo adjusted to his new job things started moving quickly and his personality began to emerge. He became known as the lovable Beatle with his easy-going, cheerful temperament. He never tried to assert too much influence over the music; he just did his job and did it well. His fans and band mates loved him, so much so that after the break-up he was the only one who remained on good terms with the rest of the band.

Throughout the 70’s Ringo stayed busy with several successful solo albums, starred in several movies and collaborated with George Harrison and John Lennon on various projects. In 1979 his health failed him again and he was hospitalized with severe intestinal problems. He recovered just in time to join George and Paul for an impromptu jam to celebrate Eric Clapton’s wedding.

In 1980 Ringo met Bond girl, Barbara Bach on the set of Caveman. The two fell in love and were married in 1981. Over the summer the two of them departed on a publicity tour for Caveman and Ringo’s most recent album “Stop and Smell The Roses”. For the rest of the 80s Ringo dabbled in radio and television, but was, for the most part, under the radar of the media.

In 1988 Ringo joined George and Yoko in New York for the Beatles induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. A year later Ringo began is first ever solo concert tour, resulting in the Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band live album in 1990. In 1992 Ringo embarked on his second All Starr Band tour, this time with his son drumming beside him. In 1994 Ringo joined George and Paul to record John Lennon’s song “Free As A Bird,” the first Beatles recording in 30 years. In 1995 the All Starr Band began touring again but Ringo cancelled it abruptly when he received news of his daughter’s hospitalization for a brain tumor. After her successful surgery, Ringo created a painting that was later auctioned off for $33,000 at a Make A Wish benefit.

For the rest of the 90s, Ringo toured extensively with the All Starr Band. Since 2000, Ringo has released two acclaimed studio albums, “Ringorama” and most recently, “Choose Love.”