Ringo Starr biography
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[urlnew=/biography_home/794:0/John_Lennon.htm][/urlnew][b]Ringo Starr, the man who was to become the legendary Beatles' drummer and the narrator for the world's most popular anthropomorphised train, was born Richard Starkey on 7th July 1940 in Liverpool, England.[/b]

He was born in the poorer Dingle area of Liverpool to dock worker Richard Starkey and bakery assistant Elsie. His mother and father separated when he was three years old and Starr's mother later re-married a man called Harry Graves, who was a close stepfather to Starr, who cheekily nicked-named the older man his ‘step ladder’.

In the summer of 1947, when Starr was six, he fell ill with an appendicitis, which landed him in hospital. Complications of the appendicitis led to an infection that put him in a coma, keeping him away from school for almost a year and putting him seriously behind in his schoolwork.

Starr was an accident and sickness-prone child. During his hospital stay for the appendicitis, to combat the boredom of a small child, he was given a couple of toys to keep his spirits up: a little red bus and a drum. Starr was very taken with the drum, but decided to give his bus to the boy in the bed next to him as a gift. Unfortunately as he leaned out of the bed to do so, he fell and hit his head, knocking himself out.

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Being behind in his education, Starr could not read or write very well, so when he returned to school he was put in a class with children much younger than himself. At 13, he caught a cold that turned into pleurisy. It resulted in another trip to hospital and another slide away from literacy. Then, in 1952, he fell ill with tuberculosis.

"In those days, they used to put you in what we liked to call a greenhouse in the country, the countryside. And thank God, someone had invented Streptomycin. And you just sat around for a year getting well… So to keep you entertained, once a week, they'd have like lessons: could be knitting, could be modelling, occasionally, it was music. And they'd bring in tambourines, triangles and little drums."

From that moment, Starr wouldn't play in the band unless he had a drum. Drums became the love of his life. “They became the dream that one day I would have my own set, which happened. And then the other dream was that I would play with other musicians, which came true.”

Like the other three [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1515:0/The_Beatles_.htm]Beatles[/urlnew][/b], Starr became interested with the Liverpool style of music known as skiffle. He started his own group called the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group in 1957. In 1959, he moved on to The Raving Texans. But before he was able to make money from his musical talents, Starr worked as a delivery boy for British Rail, behind a bar on a ferry and as a trainee joiner. He got the nickname Ringo around this time because of the numerous rings he wore on his pinky and ring fingers. The surname Starr arrived when he dropped the 'key' from Starkey.

His stepfather bought him a new drum kit and Starr promised to become an amazing musician. He travelled from band to band, but he eventually landed a spot with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes who were a popular band at the time. It was Storm who encouraged Starr to legally changing his name to Ringo Starr.

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At this time, [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1515:0/The_Beatles_.htm]The Beatles[/urlnew] [/b]were on the rise but they had already been through several drummers. At one point they were so desperate that they even invited strangers from the audience to fill the position. Ringo first met the boys in Hamburg in October 1960 while still with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes. The Beatles' drummer, Pete Best, was not considered by the other band members to be the greatest musician around, and they were keen to recruit Starr as his replacement. Consequently, the Beatles new A&R manager, George Martin, asked Starr to fill the position. He agreed, but when he played with The Beatles at The Cavern Club, a lot of long-time fans were still disappointed about Best's firing,

Starr became known as the friendly Beatle with a great sense of humour and quotable quotes. The song title ‘Eight Days A Week’ was written after one of Starr's expressions and the band's first movie was called 'A Hard Day's Night' (1964) after a phrase he coined one evening. His inventive drumming also gave the band a distinctive sound and his down-to-earth manner made him a levelling band mate.

Starr has been married twice, first to Maureen Cox on 11th February, 1965. The pair had three children, Zak, Jason, and Lee, but divorced in 1975. Zak followed in his father's footsteps as a drummer for groups like [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1663:0/Oasis_.htm]Oasis [/urlnew][/b]and [b][urlnew=/biography_home/1366:1552/The_Who_-_Who_s_Next_.htm]The Who[/urlnew][/b]. Starr's later wed Barbara Bach in 1981, to whom he remains happily married.

While [b][urlnew=/biography_home/794:0/John_Lennon.htm]John Lennon[/urlnew][/b] and [b][urlnew=/biography_home/174:0/Paul_McCartney.htm]Paul McCartney[/urlnew][/b] were widely praised for their song writing talents, Starr's contributions were not as readily acknowledged. He was known for his strong drumming talents but he also assisted in the group's creative process and provided some of its emotional stability and good humour. Unlike past drummers, who remained firmly in the background, Starr was seen an equal part of the Fab Four. His influence would later be seen on future generations of drummers.

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[b][urlnew=/biography_home/1515:0/The_Beatles_.htm]The Beatles[/urlnew] [/b]broke up for good in April, 1970 and by the end of the year, Starr has released two solo albums. By 1973 he had become the most commercially successful of the ex-Beatles at that time. He appeared in several feature films, and made TV commercials and voiceovers. He also continued to record and tour, under the banner of the All Starr Band. Some of Starr's hits were ‘Photograph’, ‘Back Off Boogaloo’, ‘You're Sixteen’, and ‘It Don't Come Easy’.

Post-Beatles, his acting talents were explored in such films as '200 Motels' (1971), 'That'll Be the Day' (1973), and 'Son of Dracula' (1974). He also starred in the comedy 'Caveman' (1981) with Bach, whom he married. On television, he starred in two children's series, most famously as the narrator for 'Thomas the Tank Engine' and later 'Shining Time Station'.

When George Harrison died in November 2001, Starr, McCartney and [b][urlnew=/biography_home/333:0/Eric_Clapton.htm]Eric Clapton[/urlnew][/b] appeared in concert to raise money for Harrison's legacy in exploration of alternative lifestyles, views and philosophies.

Starr's 2008 solo album, 'Liverpool 8', generated some of the strongest reviews of his studio work since the early 1970s. The album’s title song was a sweetly melancholy reflection on his early life in Liverpool, alluding to his pre-Beatles role as drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and the years that followed in the musical cyclone that was The Beatles.

An original hippy, Starr's trademark motto is 'peace and love'. He had been asked in an interview what he wanted for his birthday and replied "just more peace and love," so on his 68th birthday, celebrated in 2008, he held a peace and love festival - with cup cakes.

[b]Sam Carpenter[/b]
Ringo Starr biography



Ringo was the oldest Beatle and the last to join the group.

He is the only ex-Beatle who is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist.

He is a left-handed drummer who uses a right-handed drum kit.

He and the other Beatles were awarded MBE in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

His trademark motto is `peace and love' - he loves the concept so much he held a peace and love festival for his 68th birthday.

He has two tattoos, one on each arm.

He tours with his group, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.

He is a strict vegetarian and loves Western movies.

Ringo Starr biography



[b]As Director[/b]
2003 - Ringo Rama
1972 - Born to Boogie
1967 - Magical Mystery Tour


[b]As Actor[/b]
2007 - The McCartney Years
2000 - Courage the Cowardly Dog
1995 - Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show
1990 - Shining Time Station
1990 - Shining Time Station Christmas: 'Tis a Gift
1984-1986 - Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Narrator
1986 - To the North of Katmandu
1985 - Alice in Wonderland
1985 - Water
1985 - Willie and the Poor Boys
1984 - Give My Regards to Broad Street
1983 - Princess Daisy
1982 - The Cooler
1981 - Caveman
1978 - Sextette
1978 - Ringo
1975 - Lisztomania
1974 - Son of Dracula
1973 - That'll Be the Day
1971 - 200 Motels
1971 - The Point
1969 - The Magic Christian
1968 - Candy
1967 - Magical Mystery Tour
1966 - Reflections on Love
1965 - Help!
1964 - A Hard Day's Night

Ringo Starr biography



2008 - Live On Tour
2008 - Ringo 5.1
2008 - Liverpool 8
2007 - Live At Soundstage
2007 - Very Best Of
2005 - Choose Love
2004 - Tour 2003
2003 - Best of Ringo Starr: 20th Century Masters/The Christmas Collection
2003 - Extended Versions
2003 - Ringo Rama
2003 - Christmas Collection: 20th Century Masters
2002 - King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Ringo Starr
2002 - Halloween: Resurrection
2002 - 25 Hits from the British Invasion
2001 - The Anthology... So Far...
2001 - Songs of Soil
1999 - I Wanna Be Santa Claus
1998 - VH1 Storytellers
1998 - Vertical Man
1996 - Sonorities by Starlight
1994 - Ringo Starr & His All-Starr...Vol 2.
1992 - Time Takes Time
1991 - Curly Sue
1991 - Community
1990 - All-Starr Band
1989 - Starr Struck: Best of Ringo Starr, Vol. 2
1989 - Best Wishes
1983 - Old Wave
1980 - Stop and Smell the Roses
1978 - Bad Boy
1977 - Ringo the 4th
1976 - Blast From Your Past
1976 - Ringo's Rotogravure
1974 - Goodnight Vienna
1973 - Ringo
1971 - Beaucoups of Blues
1970 - Sentimental Journey
1955 - Soft and Sweet/Midnight for Two


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