Ringo Starr, drummer with probably the most famous band in the world, was born Richard Starkey on 7th July 1940, in Liverpool, England. The son of a dock worker and bakery assistant, Ringo was given his first drum when he was six and recuperating from serious complications stemming from a bout of appendicitis which led to him being off school for almost a year. This was just the first in a series of illnesses that would leave him so far behind in school that when he left, at 15, he could barely read or write.
Starr's first job after leaving school was as a delivery boy with British Rail, but he had to leave when he failed the medical exam. He then worked bar before becoming a trainee joiner. He injured his hand on the first day of the job and decided it wasn't for him. Ringo's dream was to become a drummer, a dream that came on step closer to reality when his step father bought him a drum kit.
The skiffle movement in Liverpool was huge at that time and in 1957 he and his friend Eddie Miles formed The Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group. In 1959 Starr joined the Raving Texans and it was here he got the nickname ‘Ringo’ because of the rings he wore (the surname ‘Starr’ would come later, when he dropped the ‘key’ from Starkey). By October 1960 the band had been renamed Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and it was while the group were performing in Hamburg he met Harrison, Lennon and McCartney for the first time. At the time the Beatles were beginning to gain recognition but they had already been through several drummers and weren't completely happy with their current one, Pete Best.
The Beatles were impressed with Starr and didn’t waste any time asking him to replace Best. He readily agreed. Unfortunately some of the Beatles long term fans were disappointed with the decision and made it known when he played his first gig at The Cavern, when brawling inside the club led to George Harrison receiving a black eye!
Starr, with his affable personality and laid back demeanor, rapidly became known as the friendly Beatle. He also coined some memorable quotes, the song title ‘Eight Days A Week’ originally being one of Starr's own expressions, and the band's first movie 'A Hard Day's Night' was so named after a phrase he coined one evening. His inventive style of drumming gave the band a distinctive sound and his down-to-earth manner made him a levelling influence on the other band members.
Although Starr was known for his strong drumming talents, he also played an active role in the group's creative process. Unlike previous drummers, who had remained firmly in the background, Starr was very much an equal part of the Fab Four and provided much of its emotional stability and good humour; an original hippy, his motto was, and still remains, ‘Peace and Love’. His influence would go on to shape future generations of drummers.
After The Beatles broke up in 1970 Starr didn’t rest on his laurels. By the end of the year he had released two solo albums and by 1973 he had become the most commercially successful of all the other ex-band members at that time. As well as continuing to record and tour as the All Starr Band, he appeared in feature films and TV commercials. He also became famous for narrating Thomas The Tank Engine, a hugely successful, award-winning children’s TV show about a little talking steam locomotive called Thomas and his friends.
When fellow Beatle George Harrison died in November 2001, Starr, McCartney and Eric Clapton appeared in concert to raise money for Harrison's legacy in exploration of alternative lifestyles, views and philosophies. .
Starr has been married twice, first to Maureen Cox in 1964 with whom he had three children, Zak, Jason, and Lee. They divorced in 1975. Zak followed in his father's footsteps as a drummer for groups like Oasis and The Who. Starr is now happily married to Barbara Bach, who he wed in 1981.
Starr continues to record and his 2008 solo album ‘Liverpool 8’ gained rave reviews from critics and fans alike. He recently celebrated his 70th birthday with a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.