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01
Ringo Starr was the sole Beatle to initially welcome Yoko Ono into John’s life, even offering his London apartment for John and Cynthia’s divorce settlement. Later, after John’s murder, Ringo and his future wife Barbara Bach flew to New York to support Yoko.
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02
Like George Harrison, Ringo is a longtime fan of the comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus and appeared in an episode of the series.
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03
According to George Harrison, Starr unintentionally inspired song titles with his off-the-cuff remarks. After a long filming session, he remarked that it had been a hard day’s night, which became the title of the Beatles’ first film and song.
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04
Starr missed several years of school due to illness and learned to read and write with the help of a neighbor girl who became his babysitter.
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05
He was originally hired as a Beatle for a salary of 25 pounds a week, with a promise of full partnership. He continued to collect that salary weekly from NEMS management even after the band had hit records.
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06
He is naturally left-handed but was corrected to write right-handed; however, he plays drums left-handed on a right-handed kit, creating unusual accents and stops.
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07
Before officially joining the Beatles in 1962, he played many gigs with them as a substitute for Pete Best and made one recording backing a singer named Wally.
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08
While he owns property in several countries, he is officially a British citizen residing in Monaco 2001.
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09
Sixteen years before they met and married, his wife Barbara Bach was in the audience at the Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert.
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10
While recording Stop and Smell the Roses at Cherokee Studios, he was joined by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, as well as Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, who all collaborated on the album.
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11
Yellow Submarine was the Beatles’ only number one single with Starr as lead vocalist.
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12
He got the last name Starr from his birth name Starkey, and the first name Ringo because he liked to wear rings on all his fingers.
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13
His single The No-No Song, a song against drug abuse, was ironically banned from several radio stations because of its drug references.
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14
Phil Collins always stated Starr as his biggest influence as a drummer, deliberately copying his style on songs like That’s All and noting his fills on Ticket to Ride and Strawberry Fields Forever.
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15
He was the first Beatle to drop out of their 1968 trip to India to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, unable to handle the spicy food and missing his family.
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16
He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beatles on January 20, 1988.
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17
The first song he co-wrote for the Beatles was What Goes On on the Rubber Soul album; his first solo song Don’t Pass Me By appeared on the White Album.
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18
He was a close friend of Keith Moon, drummer of the Who, and they shared a house in California in the mid-1970s with John Lennon and Harry Nilsson.
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19
His brother-in-law is Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh.
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20
Though Paul McCartney is the most successful former Beatle, Ringo actually had more solo US Top Ten hits McCartney scored his with Wings.
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21
He bought Tittenhurst Park estate from John Lennon, complete with Ascot Sound Studios, renaming it Startling Studios.
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22
It was Ringo who hollered I’ve got blisters on my fingers at the end of Helter Skelter on the White Album, after a three-hour session.
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23
Two of his biggest solo hits, It Don’t Come Easy and Photograph, featured ex-bandmate George Harrison on guitar and backing vocals.
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24
He had three children with Maureen Starkey: Zak Starkey a drummer for the Who, Jason Starkey, and Lee Starkey.
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25
He wrote Octopus’s Garden while on vacation, inspired by a conversation with a chef about octopi.
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26
The first song he sang with the Beatles on an album was a cover of the Shirelles’ Boys.
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27
He is three months older than John Lennon and the last to join the Beatles, making him both the oldest and youngest Beatle.
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28
In April 1963, he purchased a Ludwig drum kit; the logo’s large T in Beatles was adopted into their trademark in 1969.
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29
He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1975 North Vine Street on February 8, 2010.
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30
In a curious coincidence, Ringo is the Japanese word for apple, also the name of the Beatles’ record label.
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31
Ringo Starr was a natural stage name for a young man who loved Western movies and considered moving to Texas before joining the Beatles.
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32
He mystified contemporaries by draping light towels over his snare drum and removing the front skin of his bass drum to deepen the sound.
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33
He is the only Beatle to have never had a solo UK number one, though he had two in the US with Photograph and You’re Sixteen.
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34
He and the other Beatles were awarded MBE in 1965; John Lennon later returned his in protest over Vietnam.
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35
The Beatles had several drummers before Starr; Pete Best was fired after failing George Martin’s audition.
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36
He was the first Beatle to become a grandfather upon the birth of his granddaughter Tatia in 1985, and became a great-grandfather in 2016.
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37
In the mid-1970s, he was involved with British singer-songwriter Lynsey de Paul and appeared on a single she wrote for Dame Vera Lynn.
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38
In 1985, he accepted a role on Guiding Light but pulled out, later recast with Jeremy Slate.
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39
He is believed to be the only Beatle without Irish ancestry.
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40
Starr cites drummers Jim Keltner and Cozy Cole as major influences; Keltner performed at the Concert for Bangladesh and on his Rotogravure album.
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41
In 1988, he got clean and sober after spending two decades lost in a haze of alcohol following the Beatles’ breakup.
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42
He nearly quit the Beatles during the White Album sessions in 1968, feeling his percussion was subpar; Paul McCartney filled in for a few days.
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43
He and the Beatles were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard.
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44
On November 11, 2004, he was inducted as part of the Beatles into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
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45
The 2009 Sunday Times List estimated his net worth at $196 million.
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46
He messed up takes only twelve times during the Beatles’ entire recording career.
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47
He got his first set of drums as a present from his stepfather and turned professional with a 25-pound loan from his grandfather.
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48
He was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 2002.
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49
As a Beatle, Starr single-handedly consolidated Ludwig as the drum set of choice among popular bands.
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50
He played drums on several songs by Paul McCartney on the album Pipes of Peace 1983.
