Ringo Starr

Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for <a href="/facts/The_Beatles/2syHWLcM">the Beatles</a>. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "<a href="/facts/Yellow_Submarine_(song)/CK8pg0cU">Yellow Submarine</a>" and "<a href="/facts/With_a_Little_Help_from_My_Friends/mS2T7e1U">With a Little Help from My Friends</a>". He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs "<a href="/facts/Don%2527t_Pass_Me_By/10IvmAoH">Don't Pass Me By</a>" and "<a href="/facts/Octopus%2527s_Garden/xF7p3ULb">Octopus's Garden</a>", and is credited as a co-writer of four others.
Starr was afflicted by life-threatening illnesses during childhood, with periods of prolonged hospitalisation. As a teenager Starr became interested in the UK <a href="/facts/Skiffle/oPtWDwNw">skiffle</a> craze and developed a fervent admiration for the genre. In 1957, he co-founded his first band, the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Group, which earned several prestigious local bookings before the fad succumbed to American <a href="/facts/Rock_and_roll/hNDC5KwW">rock and roll</a> around early 1958. When the Beatles formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another <a href="/facts/Liverpool/kTqATlxg">Liverpool</a> group, <a href="/facts/Rory_Storm/uAzXuw7V">Rory Storm and the Hurricanes</a>. After achieving moderate success in the UK and <a href="/facts/Hamburg/kmAAsYtT">Hamburg</a>, he quit the Hurricanes when he was asked to join the Beatles in August 1962, replacing <a href="/facts/Pete_Best/ucXdxfjS">Pete Best</a>.
In addition to <a href="/facts/The_Beatles_in_film/2alEQbaB">the Beatles' films</a>, Starr has acted in numerous others. After the <a href="/facts/Break-up_of_the_Beatles/Fr8huKwB">Beatles disbanded</a>, he released several successful singles including the US top-ten hit "<a href="/facts/It_Don%2527t_Come_Easy/yhwA4tCB">It Don't Come Easy</a>", and number ones "<a href="/facts/Photograph_(Ringo_Starr_song)/2FNlBbAT">Photograph</a>" and "<a href="/facts/You%2527re_Sixteen/U5EPrWRe">You're Sixteen</a>". His most successful UK single was "<a href="/facts/Back_Off_Boogaloo/BKrDbS3n">Back Off Boogaloo</a>", which peaked at number two. He achieved commercial and critical success with his 1973 album <a href="/facts/Ringo_(album)/agSule3f">Ringo</a>, which was a top-ten release in both the UK and the US. Starr has also featured in numerous documentaries, hosted television shows, narrated the first two series of the children's television programme <a href="/facts/Thomas_%2526_Friends/IKqymzen">Thomas & Friends</a> and portrayed "Mr. Conductor" during the first season of the <a href="/facts/PBS/E6q9udH8">PBS</a> children's television series <a href="/facts/Shining_Time_Station/jjr7082d">Shining Time Station</a>. Since 1989, he has toured with thirteen variations of <a href="/facts/Ringo_Starr_%2526_His_All-Starr_Band/kVpAbCJf">Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band</a>.
Starr's playing style, which emphasised feel over technical virtuosity, influenced many drummers to reconsider their playing from a compositional perspective. He also influenced various modern drumming techniques, such as the <a href="/facts/Matched_grip/lekd0dJN">matched grip</a>, tuning the drums lower, and using muffling devices on tonal rings. In his opinion, his finest recorded performance was on the Beatles' "<a href="/facts/Rain_(Beatles_song)/8PIjuy10">Rain</a>". In 1999, he was inducted into the <a href="/facts/Modern_Drummer/e5bCpuN0">Modern Drummer</a> Hall of Fame. In 2011, <a href="/facts/Rolling_Stone/HhCFoJ9F">Rolling Stone</a> readers named him the fifth-greatest drummer of all time. He was inducted twice into the <a href="/facts/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame/6hRagsTD">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame</a>, as a Beatle in 1988 and as a solo artist in 2015, and appointed a <a href="/facts/Knight_Bachelor/reg5TEqI">Knight Bachelor</a> in the <a href="/facts/2018_New_Year_Honours/aJmsSc6C">2018 New Year Honours</a> for services to music.

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Ringo Starr