Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, on July 7, 1940. His parents divorced when he was three and he and his mother moved to another home in Liverpool. While attending Silas Infants' Schools he suffered from many afflictions that basically ruined his education: he had constant severe abdominal pains, was once diagnosed with a ruptured appendix that led to an inflamed peritoneum--which also led to one of his first surgeries--he was in a coma for a couple of months, during which more operations were performed, and he was known to be accident-prone. Shortly after he came out of the coma, he was trying to offer a toy bus to another boy in an adjoining bed, but fell and received a concussion. When he finally was able to go back to school, he learned that he was far behind in his studies. As if that weren't bad enough, at age 13 he caught a cold that turned into chronic pleurisy, necessitating another stay at another hospital in Liverpool. A few lung complications followed, which resulted in a stay in yet another children's hospital, this time until 1955. Meanwhile, Richard's mother Elise had married Harry Graves, the man who her son referred to as a "stepladder".

His first job was as a delivery boy for British Rail. His second was a barman on a ferry to New Brighton, and his next was as a trainee joiner at Henry Hunt & Sons. His stepfather bought him a new drum kit and Richard promised to be the best musician, ever. He traveled from band to band, but he eventually landed a spot with "Rory Storm & The Hurricanes", a popular band at the time, and Storm encouraged Richard to enhance his career by legally changing his name to Ringo Starr. The Hurricanes became popular in England and topped the bill at one of Liverpool's clubs, where The Beatles also featured.

Original Beatles' drummer Pete Best was not considered by the other band members to be the greatest drummer, and they were keen to recruit Ringo as his replacement. Ringo's group was now playing second-fiddle to The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers. He wanted to leave The Hurricanes to join another group called "The Seniors". After considering Johnny Hutchinson of "The Big Three," The Beatles new A & R manager George Martin asked Ringo if he would be interested in filling in the position. He agreed, but when he played with The Beatles at The Cavern Club, a lot of longtime fans were still disappointed about Best's firing, and began to shout, "Pete forever, Ringo never!"

Ringo also wanted to be a professional actor, more so than the other Beatles. He received great reviews for his performance in A Hard Day's Night, and also for Help!. He had married his old girlfriend, Maureen Cox, on February 11, 1965, and they had three children. The couple broke up in July 1975 and he married actress Barbara Bach. Ringo had the same problem as George did, which was getting his songs noticed. At times John and Paul would write a song or two for him to sing on one album, such as "Boys", "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Honey Don't", and "Yellow Submarine". During his stay with The Beatles, Ringo wrote two songs, however--"Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus' Garden".

After the breakup of The Beatles, Ringo sustained a very popular solo career, turning out 13 hit songs and eight best-selling albums. He also appeared in various TV shows, including his own special, Ringo, and a TV mini-series, Princess Daisy, with his wife Barbara. He stayed out of the limelight for years after that, however, and in 1984 he did narration for the children's series Thomas the Tank Engine. He conquered a drinking problems--his wife attended the rehabilitation clinic with him--and came back to the scene sober to do the All-Starr Band tour of America and Japan. The tour was so popular that he formed another All-Starr Band in 1992, and began an American and European tour in June of that year. While he continues to do the All-Starr Band, along with George Harrison and Paul McCartney he did a Beatles' anthology to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the breakup of the band. They sang two new songs, in addition to adding themselves to a couple of John Lennon demos. His old friend and bandmate George Harrison passed away on November 29, 2001, after a long battle against cancer, and the following year, on the anniversary of Harrison's death, Starr, McCartney and Eric Clapton appeared in a Concert For George, to raise money for the exploration of alternative life views and philosophies. It also supported charitable organizations with consideration to those who have special needs.


Drummer with The Beatles (1962-1970). He had three children with Maureen Starkey: Sons Zak Starkey (a featured drummer with The Who) and Jason (born August 19th 1967) and daughter Lee (born November 17th 1970). The Beatles had several drummers before Starr joined. Pete Best had been with them for two years, when he was fired after failing the band's audition for George Martin at EMI. Is left-handed, though he plays a right-handed drum set and makes unusual accents and stops. Though Paul McCartney is the most successful ex-Beatle, Ringo actually had more solo US Top ten hits. (McCartney performed most of his Top Tens with Wings). Before becoming an official member of The Beatles in 1962, he played many gigs with them, guesting when Pete Best was not available. Also made one recording with them, backing a singer named Wally, before he joined. Wrote the song "Octopus's Garden" while on vacation. He claims to have got the idea for the song after conversing with a chef about octopi. Got the last name "Starr" from his birth name, Starkey. He got "Ringo" because he liked to wear rings on all his fingers. Bought Tittenhurst Park estate from John Lennon (Lennon's last English home), when John and Yoko Ono decided to move to America; the deal came complete with Ascot Sound Studios, located on the grounds, and home of several albums ("Plastic Ono Band", "Imagine", and "Fly"). He renamed the facility Startling Studios. Judas Priest planned to record their "British Steel" album there, but preferred the acoustics of the house itself (which they had leased). Missed several years of school, because of illness growing up. Learned to read and write with the help of a neighbor girl, who became his babysitter. He is a strict vegetarian, as is former bandmate Paul McCartney. He is a longtime fan of the comedy troupe Monty Python, and even appeared on an episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (1969). . Was the first member of The Beatles to "drop out" of their visit to India in the spring of 1968, to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Despite packing some home comforts (like cans of baked beans), he couldn't handle the spicy cooking the camp offered, and was missing his family. The Beatles were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for their outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. [11 November 2004] The first song he had a hand in writing for an album by The Beatles was "What Goes On", from the 1965 "Rubber Soul" album (which he co-wrote with John Lennon and Paul McCartney). He began his own first song "Don't Pass Me By" years earlier, but it did not appear until 1968's "White Album". Stop and Smell the Roses was engineered and mixed by Bruce Robb in association with Bruce Robb Productions. During April 1963 Ringo purchased a slightly used drum kit at "Drum City" a local outlet. In exchange for payment, Brian Epstein agreed to paste the distributor's "dropped T" logo as well as the manufacturer's name, "Ludwig " on the drum. The logo, the "large T" in Beatles, was adopted into their trade mark in 1969. First of The Beatles to become a grandfather upon the birth of son Zak's daughter, Tatia Jayne Starkey. [1985] Was originally hired as a Beatle for a salary of £25 a week, with the promise of a full partnership in the band in time. The promise was kept, and after the Beatles began to have hit records, Starr's mother discovered the top of his dresser covered with money (wondering at first if it was all come by honestly), and opened a savings account for him. Nonetheless, Starr's initial £25 salary was never discontinued, and he would pick it up every week from NEMS (Brian Epstein's management company). He used it for pocket money. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California for his services and contributions to the Recording Industry. Starr mystified many of his contemporaries with his practice of draping light towels over his snare drum in order to deaden the characteristic timbre of his instrument. He famously removed the front skin of his bass drum and stuffed the cavity with cushions to deepen the punch of the bass sound. Friends with Keith Moon.