The drummer reflected on The Fab Four’s incredible success
Ringo Starr issued a tribute to his bandmates as he reflected on The Beatles’ timeless success. The Fab Four’s drummer, whose real name is Sir Richard Starkey, said the band’s superstardom was down to their incredible chemistry and hard work.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the 84-year-old described his relationship with John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney and George as “like four brothers”. He also explained how John and George’s tragic deaths still hit hard.
He said: “I miss them both, George and John. We were friends, we were like four brothers and we looked out for each other. When we made music, we went through moments where getting a little happy was good.
So, we really worked very hard, we had a lot of cups of tea and we could just feel where it was going. For me, it was like psychic, we knew where it was going. No one had to look at you or stamp their foot or whatever.”
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He added: “We did it together, that’s what was great. We had two great songwriters. It was great.” The Beatles shot to stardom in the 60s but their cultural impact shows no sign of waning and Ringo admitted he is blown away by the continued success.
He said: “The Beatles are still doing like five billion streams a year, it’s far out!” Ringo was then quizzed on the success of Taylor Swift, who holds the mantle of most successful contemporary popstar.
The popstar played Anfield in a series of memorable gigs this year and he said her success was well deserved as he recalled a time they met before her superstardom. He said: “I said she’s really big and it’s great because Paul and I did several Grammy shows. We met her there all the time, she was with her mum and look at her now. She’s done very well.”
Ringo spoke to Entertainment Tonight to reflect on the the Beatles’ Grammy award nomination for record of the year. The band’s 2023 song ‘Now and Then’ is up against work from Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar among others.
Released last November, ‘Now and Then’, featured cleaned-up John Lennon vocals from the 1970s and 1995 guitar recordings from George Harrison alongside new work from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. The vocals are taken from a demo recorded by John at his home in New York’s Dakota Building.
The song hit number one in the UK official charts and meant The Beatles set a record for the longest gap between an act’s first and last number one.
There were 60 years and six months between the April 1963 release of ‘From Me to You’ (the band’s first number one in the official charts) and the November 2023 release of ‘Now and Then’. The Beatles have won 13 Grammys in total – six of which came while the band were still active as a group.
