Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr MBE
In Sydney, Australia, February 2013
Background information
Birth name	Richard Starkey
Born	(1940-07-07) 7 July 1940 (age 76) Dingle, Liverpool, England
Genres	Rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Drummer singer songwriter actor
Instruments	Vocals drums percussion
Years active	1957–present
Labels	Parlophone United Artists Capitol Apple Swan Vee-Jay Tollie Atlantic RCA Mercury Koch Private Music Boardwalk Rykodisc Hip-O
Associated acts	The Beatles Rory Storm and the Hurricanes Plastic Ono Band Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band The Band Peter Frampton Steve Lukather
Website	RingoStarr.com
Notable instruments
Ludwig Super Classic drumset Ludwig Black Oyster Pearl drumset Zildjian cymbals Remo drumheads
Starr's voice from the BBC programme Front Row, 31 December 2008

Richard Starkey,MBE (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for the Beatles. He occasionally sang lead vocals, usually for one song on an album, including "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Yellow Submarine" and their cover of "Act Naturally". He also wrote the Beatles' songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of others, including "What Goes On" and "Flying".

Starr was twice afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, and as a result of prolonged hospitalisations fell behind in school. In 1955, he entered the workforce and briefly held a position with British Rail before securing an apprenticeship at a Liverpool equipment manufacturer. Soon afterwards, he became interested in the UK skiffle craze, developing a fervent admiration for the genre. In 1957, he cofounded his first band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, which earned several prestigious local bookings before the fad succumbed to American rock and roll by early 1958.

When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. After achieving moderate success with that band in the UK and Hamburg, he quit the Hurricanes and joined the Beatles in August 1962, replacing Pete Best. Starr played key roles in the Beatles' films and appeared in numerous others. After the band's break-up in 1970, he released several successful singles including the US number four hit "It Don't Come Easy", and number ones "Photograph" and "You're Sixteen". In 1972, he released his most successful UK single, "Back Off Boogaloo", which peaked at number two. He achieved commercial and critical success with his 1973 album Ringo, which was a top ten release in both the UK and the US. He has been featured in a number of documentaries and hosted television shows. He also narrated the first two series of the children's television programme Thomas & Friends and portrayed "Mr Conductor" during the first season of the PBS children's television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, he has toured with twelve variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.