Ringo Starr

Profession: Musician
Place/Date of Birth: Liverpool, 07 July 1940
Associated with: George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, The Beatles

Ringo walks off TV show over song cut - Jan 23 2008
Ringo Starr walked off the set of US TV show Live With Regis And Kelly rather than cut short one of his songs.

The 67-year-old - who's promoting his new album Liverpool 8 - planned to perform the title song with rocker Dave Stewart. But because of miscommunication between his publicist, Elizabeth Freund, and the musical director, he didn't realise the performance had to be two and a half minutes or less, Ms Freund said.

When told the performance had to be shortened, Ms Freund said Ringo tried to cut the song's four-minute, 15 second length down to three minutes and 30 seconds. But, according to Ms Freund, producer Michael Gelman said it had to be less than three minutes.

"We offered to cut back our chat time and asked them to fade or go to commercial. They were not willing to do that and Ringo was not willing to cut it further, so without a compromise we were not able to stay," Ms Freund said in a statement.

"Ringo left saying, 'God bless and goodbye. We still love Regis'."

A spokeswoman for Regis and Kelly disputed some of Ms Freund's claims. The representative, who declined to be named, citing show policy, said the show's producers tried to work with Ringo.

The spokeswoman said the song time was almost five minutes, not 4 minutes and 15 seconds. She also said his appearance had been booked since November and that Ringo's representatives had agreed to the time requirement.

Despite the drama, the spokeswoman said the show would welcome Ringo back.

Ringo rocks city’s culture weekend - Jan 14 2008
Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr capped Liverpool’s opening Capital of Culture weekend with a rousing concert with a little help from 11,000 adoring Scousers.

The 67-year-old knocked out new single Liverpool 8, and the Beatles’ With A Little Help From My Friends.

But he put the show to bed on Sunday night with his mate John Lennon’s Power To The People - backed up by the capacity crowd at the city’s stunning new Echo Arena. It was a message to Liverpudlians to embrace their year ahead.

The show - Liverpool: The Musical - had a cast of 700 and included performances from famous Liverpool acts Echo and the Bunnymen, the Christians, Pete Wylie and The Farm.

In addition, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by 31-year-old Vasily Petrenko, played throughout with contributions from raspy-voiced blues singer Connie Lush, the No Fakin Djs, Shack, new band The Wombats and Liverpool’s Sense of Sound Choir.

The 110-minute show, subtitled The Greatest Story Ever Told, chronicled the city’s history and achievements through a film playing on a giant transparent layer.

It highlighted such chapters in the city’s 800-year history as the 1980s civic unrest, the port’s boom days - and the role it played in the slave trade - as well as two of the city’s major contributions - football and the ’Fab Four’.

Sepia images of bomb-battered Liverpool were transmitted then contrasted with sharp footage of modern Liverpool - vibrant, busy, cosmopolitan, dynamic.

The show heralded the start of 12 months of music, art and cultural events expected to boost tourism and generate around £100m for the North West regional economy.

Before introducing Ringo for the concert finale, Phil Redmond writer and creative director of the Liverpool Culture Company took to the stage. "Well, we did it," he said, prompting delighted cheers and rapturous applause.

Ringo to kick off culture events - Jan 11 2008
Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr is to kick off this year’s European Capital of Culture celebrations in Liverpool with two nights of musical entertainment.

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Biography

Richard Starkey (Ritchie / Ringo) was born on 7th July 1940. He was the only child of Richard Starkey and Elsie Gleave and they lived in an area of Liverpool known as The Dingle. His dad left home when he was three, and Elsie got work as a barmaid to help support her young son.

Ritchie developed appendicitis when he was six, and this resulted in peritonitis and a ten-week coma. He ended up in hospital for a lot longer and became very behind at school when he eventually did go back. He also lost interest and played truant. His mum married Harry Graves in 1953, which Ritchie was very happy about, but later that year Ritchie developed pleurisy, which resulted in another hospital stay, this time for two years. When he returned home at fifteen, he knew it was too late to make up so much time at school, so decided to get a job.

He worked as a messenger and barman before joining a firm as an apprentice joiner. The skiffle craze hit, and Ritchie got caught up in the bug as much as everybody else did. Music up until then had been pretty dull - so you can imagine what rock and roll did for teenagers! Harry bought his stepson a set of drums in 1957, which he went to London and brought back to Liverpool for him. Ritchie practised and joined a few bands, most often sitting in when other drummers couldn’t make it. He officially joined Rory Storm and The Hurricanes in 1959, and jacked in his job to join them at a summer engagement in Butlins, much to his parents’ dismay.

Ritchie became ’Ringo’ thanks to the rings he liked to wear on his fingers, and Starkey became shortened to ’Starr’ as it sounded better on the billing. Rory Storm and The Hurricanes were booked to appear in Hamburg during 1960, and there was another band there at the same time - The Beatles (with Pete Best). Ringo got on very well with this other Liverpudlian band, and would often watch their set. On both bands return to Liverpool, Ringo often sat in for Pete when The Beatles were gigging.

By 1961 Ringo was getting a bit fed up with The Hurricanes, who didn’t seem to be going anywhere, and was seriously considering a life out in America. He still played drums and went to Hamburg with Tony Sheridan, but was unsure where life was going to take him. Little did he know.

In August 1962 he received two offers of employment - one from King Size Taylor and the Dominos and the other from The Beatles. Ringo eagerly joined The Beatles, only eighteen days away from their scheduled recording session for EMI at Abbey Road Studios. Although Ringo was the natural replacement for Pete, it took a while before he fitted in with the closed circle that was The Beatles. He felt disheartened when a session drummer turned up to record Love Me Do, but it was the recording with Ringo that was released as a single, and a session drummer never appeared again - Ringo was in.

Ringo’s steady beat was the pefect background for The Beatles, and his easy going and friendly nature earned the other Beatles affection and respect. Ringo married his Liverpool sweetheart Maureen Cox on February 11th, 1965 and Zak was born on September that year, followed by Jason (August 1967) and sister Lee (November 1970). Unfortunately Ringo and Maureen divorced in 1975.

Ringo received high acclaim for his acting in A Hard Days Night - especially for his solitary walk along the canal. When The Beatles split in 1970, he also had two solo albums under his belt, and for a time was actually the most successful Beatle out of the all of them! He was also the only one who friendly at first, drumming for John’s Plastic Ono Band and George’s All Things Must Pass. Ringo took up acting and co-formed the design company Ringo Or Robin Ltd. He released a few singles and started Wobble Music Ltd - a music publishing company.

He fell ill in 1979 and had more operations in hospital, but recovered and met Barbara Bach on the set of his movie Caveman, and they subsequently got married. Ringo was the one that eventually led The Beatles back to talking again, although John’s murder in 1980 put paid to any reunion. Ringo and Barbara moved back to Tittenhurst Park, and he narrated Thomas The Tank Engine, which proved a hit with children all round the world. All throughout the eighties Ringo drummed at various events either with another member of The Beatles or on new projects. He created the All Starr band in 1987 and went on tour - covering the US and Japan.

In January 1994 Ringo got together with Paul and George to record John Lennon’s Free As A Bird - the first new Beatles single in 30 years.

Ringo keeps busy, he always has new ventures and projects on the go whether it is acting in films and adverts, music or any number of his various businesses. He lives mainly in Monte Carlo with Barbara.
January 2008

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