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Name: Richard Starkey
Nickname: Ringo Starr
Birthday: July 7, 1940
Parents: Richard Starkey Sr. and Elsie and Harry Graves
Wives: Maureen Cox and Barbary Bach
Children: Zak, Jason, and Leigh Starkey
Instrument Played: Drums

Ringo was born Richard Starkey in July of 1940, during World War II. In fact, a funny story about Ringo's childhood is that during all of the commotion of a bombing from the Nazis, Ringo's mother, Elsie, was hold little Ritchie to protect him. However, little Ritchie was just screaming while she held him and it was a while before she figured out why: she was holding him upside down. So Ringo's life began rather turbulently, and it continued to be as he grew up.
Of all the Beatles Ringo had it the worst in every respect, yet he seemed to be the most happy of the four. Ringo grew up in the toughest section of Liverpool called The Dingle. This area was full of the poor, working class, and a lot of rough kids. By the age of three Ringo's father and mother separated and he lost his father for a number of years, and never had a close relationship with his dad. Besides being the poorest, and from a broken home, Ringo was also very, very sickly as a child. At the age of six Ringo was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis, and unfortunately it burst before they could get it out. After this he went into a coma for two months, during which he was operated on, and eventually he woke up (obviously) but he remained hospitalized for months afterward.
Ringo was fairly healthy for a while after this, and his mother remarried to a man named Harry Graves, who treated Ringo very well. At age 13 Ringo developed a cold that turned to chronic pleurisy, and recquired another hospital stay, (for those that do not know what pleurisy is, I will inform you. Pleurisy is a problem with the membranes of the lungs, which causes great pain, and difficulty breathing). He had complications after that, and lived in a children's hospital for the next two years. The illnesses in Ringo's life account for the fact that he was very uneducated. He had a neighbor teach him how to read, and he was often poor at that, and he never graduated high school. Amazingly, Ringo never lost his cheery personality. Many that knew him growing up say that he was always happy and cheerful, and a very likeable guy. At the age of 17, Harry, bought Ringo his first drum set. Ringo had always been facinated by the drums and being a cowboy. In fact, he almost moved to the Western United States, he wanted to be a cowboy so badly. Fortunately he never got around to mailing his application.
Being a drummer guarenteed him being in a group since they were so rare, and he joined the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group in '57. He then changed groups and joined the popular group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. Ringo was a star in his own right with the Hurricanes. He drove an expensive car, and even had a name for his drum solos, Starrtime (he got the name Ringo because he wore so many rings, and this is where "Starr" came from". The Hurricanes got offered a job to play in Hamburg, Germany, and the took it up. They were treated much better than the Beatles were since they were much more popular. Ringo would often stay in the clubs late to watch the Beatles play, and often made requests and soon befriended the Beatles. He would sit in with then every now and then when their drummer Pete Best didn't show up. When the Hurricanes returned to Liverpool they were not as popular as before, and Ringo left to be a backing drummer for Tony Sheridan. When he returned he rejoined the Hurricanes, but he did not stay with them long. He was offered a job from the very popular Beatles, and he took it up.
He was hurt when he first came to join them because in the studio, he was not allowed to play. George Martin hired a session drummer to play after the sacking of Pete Best. So, their first single, Love Me Do, Ringo did not play drums on, he played tambourine. Eventually he played, and George Martin found him to be sufficient, not great, but good enough, and he kept Ringo playing in the studio.
Ringo was very, very lucky to join the Beatles when he did because it was not long after he joined them, that they were famous. Many around Liverpool referred to him as being "the luckiest man alive." They did not believe he was a better drummer than Pete, as has been claimed. But, he did fit in better with the Beatles. He was not that quiet, although he was not as outgoing as the others. He always was cheerful and picked up the groups mood when they were down or tired, and he just fit in well with their type of humor. It was a perfect fit. Unfortunately, many fans did not see it that way, and protested Ringo joining the group. They shouted, "Ringo never, Pete Best forever", and eventually, the attacked him, but he remained unhurt, it was George who suffered with a black eye.
Ringo, was very fortunate to join the Beatles, but it was all because of his outlook and personality towards life. He was dealt an ugly hand early on, and is lucky to even be alive. Many believe he did nothing to help the Beatles, but he was a tremendous influence and help. As I will discuss later, he often kept them down to earth during the mania. He was certainly an integral part of the even if he is not believed to be a great musician.

Of all of the Beatles, Ringo changed the least. He grew and evolved with the rest of them, but he kept his cheerful, down to earth personality. Ringo is often seen as unimportant and irreplacable, but this is far from true. Ringo is what kept the Beatles together. He may not have been as talented as the others, but he that may have helped him. John, Paul or George often got big egos knowing that they were big, and Ringo was often the one to bring them back down. I think that is part of the reason they broke up. Ringo was sick of bringing them down, and then being forced to act like nothing more than a backing drummer. This is supported by the fact that after the Beatles broke up, Ringo was seen as the one that is most likely to get them all together. He would often play on the others' records and they would often play on his. He is what kept the Beatles, the Beatles for as long as they did.
In the beginning, Ringo was not very well liked by the fans, but he was well liked by his bandmates, for he had the same sense of humor and sense of fun. This all changed with the fans, and with Paul he became one of the most popular Beatles. Fans found a connection with little Ringo. John said in a later interview that Ringo would have made it one his own, he had a special charm about him. He did not do much songwriting or singing with the Beatles, but he was a great drummer. His sound is unique, which is in part due to the fact that like Paul, he too is left handed. On the first couple of albums he sang either throwaways which he did well, like "I Wanna Be Your Man" or "Boys", but eventually he sang many of the Beatles classic songs such as "Yellow Submarine" and "With a LIttle Help From My Friends". John and Paul wrote both of these songs being that Ringo wasn't a prolefic songwriter by any means. He often rewrote other people's songs. He did help with "What Goes On" from Rubber Soul, but it was minimal. He always knew what songs to sing though, and he does a fantastic job singing "Honey Don't" and "Matchbox", and "Act Naturally" seemed like it was written with him mind. It wasn't until the White Album that his first composition appeared, "Don't Pass Me By". He had actually started writing this song in 1964, and it shows, but it fits on the ever so weird and ecclectic White Album. He also sang John's lullaby to Julian on the second disc of the White Album called "Goodnight". It was not until Abbey Road that Ringo had wrote his very own catchy song, "Octopus's Garden". This song is somewhat of a rewrite of "Yellow Submarine", but it is still good. George found a line of brilliance in the song, which he felt Ringo was subconsciously very philosophical. The line, "we would be warm, under the storm", was the line George found very appealing. All of the songs that Ringo sings for the Beatles are very fitting, and I can't imagine John, Paul or George singing them any better.
Even though Ringo was not a main player musically, his importance was elsewhere. He would contribute to a classic lines of John and Paul's songs for example, it was he that thought of "A Hard Day's Night", albeit, by accident. After filming one night, they walked out and Ringo said, "Well that was a Hard Day's" and he meant to say work, but he realized that it was night when he said it so he fixed himself in midsentence, and "A Hard Day's NIght" is what they got from it. He also came up with the title for "Tomorrow Never Knows" where he mixed up two cliches, which John found better than the originals. Ringo would also critique the others work, and they valued his opinion. He was no expert, but he still ahd taste and they respected that. Ringo was also the groups best actor. In a Hard Days Night, Ringo gave a great performance playing the lonely guy on the dike. He really was not acting all that lonely though, in fact, he had just come straight from a bar to the shoot. Everyone was so impressed by his acting that he was made the lead character in the Beatles next film, Help.
Ringo also grew and evolved with the others. He enjoyed smoking marijuana as much as the rest of them, and he took acid well before Paul ever submitted to taking it. He was never as into the drugs as the others though, and he was much more fond of alcohol. In fact, Ringo is the only Beatle not to be busted for illegal drug possession. He joined in with the others with the Maharashi. Unfortunately, he could not stay long in India becaus of all of the food and his allergies to many different products. He enjoyed meditating and hearing of eastern religion from George and the others, and he continued to grow with them. However, after all of their return from India and during the White Album recording, the relationships between the Beatles was becoming strained. It was Ringo who left the group first. Paul was telling him how to play drums for "Back In the USSR" ,and it got even more tense, and Paul said that he could play better than Ringo, and Ringo had it, and basically said do it, and he left. Paul did in fact play drums on "Back in the USSR" as well as "Dear Prudence" and "Why Don't We Do It In the Road". Ringo was eventually coaxed back the day before their playing of Hey Jude on the David Frost Show. The situations did not get any better and soon George quit, and Ringo did again, and eventually John came and said that he was leaving the group (contrary to popular opinion John dissolved the group, although Paul was the first to announce it).
Ringo's legacy in the Beatles is important. He showed that it was possible for anyone to be famous if you have the right character traits. Ringo was not "the luckiest man in the world", he deserved to be in the Beatles, and needed as much as he was needed. The Beatles would not have been complete without their short, blued eyed, drummer.

Being that many consider Ringo to be the least talented Beatle, it was astonishing to see how successful a solo career he had. He did not have the great number of hits that Paul had, but he did have the same amount of number ones as John (2). Ringo's charm once again shone through, and he became a star on his own with a great solo career.
His first album after leaving the Beatles caused a great fight between he and Paul. Paul wanted to release McCartney, his first solo album, before Let It Be, but Ringo had that date chosen for Sentimental Journey his first album. Eventually Ringo went to see Paul and realized how important the album was to him, and let Paul release his first. Ringo's first album does not have great hits on it, and it consists of old numbers before the Beatles arrived on the pop scene.
His next album, Beaucops of Blues, was a much different story. The album was preceded by a great, number one single, "It Don't Come Easy/ Early 1970" and the album was a smash. Ringo was not alone in the work on the album, he always had other people helping them on the albums. Often one of the former Beatles would be involved, and that is why many considered Ringo to be the one that would get the group back together. Ringo, his next album, featured the help of each of his bandmates with John writing, "I'm the Greatest" for him, George working with Ringo with his next hit off the album "Photograph" and Paul had a song called "Six O'clock" on the album. It is very strange to think that George and Ringo, the members of the Beatles that people thought were replaceable were the first to get number ones on the pop charts. In between Ringo and his next album, Goodnight Vienna, he released another catchy, but pointless single called "Backoff Boogaloo". None of Ringo's songs were brilliant lyricaly, yet, they all have his style on them and they are so catchy. He also had various singles from different albums that would become great songs and hits too like, "Only You", "Oh My My", and "No No Song". He released albums that were not as strong as the first couple of ones, but they had some catchy songs on them. Albums like, Blast From Your Past, Ringo's Rotogravure, Ringo the IV, and Bad Boy.
He had a couple of albums after John's death, but his music career was not doing so well. But his acting career was. He was in many movies in the seventies, like Caveman, where he met his second wife, Barbara Bach, they wed in the 80s and he also played Mr. Conductor on a children's show. But underneath all of the acting, Ringo was troubled with alcholism. He was the first Beatle to promote a product which was wine coolers, and as soon as he moved into Tittenhurst where John lived, the first thing he put in was a bar. In 1988 he checked into a rehabilation center and was treated for alcholoism and has been sober ever since.
The problem now is that he found himself without a record contract and no one would sign him. He eventually got signed and at first his albums did not do very well, until 1992 with Time Takes Time. This album did not do as good as it should have and it is definitely one of Ringo's finest. Songs like "Weight of the World", "Don't Go Where the Road don't go", "Runaways" and "After All These Years" were on this album and all are very good songs. Like before, none of them were lyrically great, but they had a great feel to them. In 1998 he released an album called "Vertical Man", which had great reviews but was in my opinoin inferior to Time Takes Time. Again he collaborated with many other artists, like Tom Petty, Alanis Morrisette,and many many others in the big hit of the album "La De Da", which includes former bandmate Paul McCartney, and George Harrison contributed a slide guitar solo on the song "King Of Broken Hearts". He plugged the album by going on VH-1 "Storytellers" which was another album of his that was released.
Ringo was an unexpected success as a solo artist. His life had its turbulences, but it all evened out. He is now very happy with his three kids, the oldest of which, Zak, is a drummer for the Who, his wife Barbara, and every now and then he goes on tour with his All-Starr Band.