Ringo Starr says he only wants to be in a band

13 January 2025, 15:22

The Beatles drummer has spoken about his new album and touring with his All-Starr Band.

Ringo Starr isn't interested in being a solo artist and "only wants to be in a band".

The Beatles drummer, who has toured with his All-Starr Band since the 1980s in varying line-ups, has maintained he wouldn't want to be fully solo because he hates the idea of of being "out there on [my] own".

Speaking to The Sunday Times, he revealed: "I only want to be in a band. I don’t want to be out on my own. There’s no way you can go out there and do Yesterday just on drums."

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The 84 year old musician also admitted that although he can "hold a tune," he used to wish he had a different voice.

"Well, I always wanted to be someone else," he told the newspaper. "Like Jerry Lee [Lewis] or someone! I mean, I can hold a tune, as long as it’s in my key. And it just worked out with The Beatles because John and Paul were great writers.

"That’s what made us. And I’d get one song. And a couple of them were really good, you know, With a Little Help from My Friends and Yellow Submarine. They’re still huge and I still do them on tour. They wrote me a lot of really nice songs."

Ringo also discussed his latest project, Look Up - a collaboration with producer T.Bone Burnett, who helped write nine of the album's 11 songs.

Though he admitted he hadn't set out to record a country album, the famed producer sent him a song that blew him away.

He revealed: "There was no plan to make a country record. He sent me this beautiful country track, and that blows me away even today.

"I thought he’d be sending me a rock-pop sort of song, because you’re just in that world."

The sticksman recently took part in a mini Beatles reunion with Paul McCartney as he closed his 2024 Got Back tour at The O2, London.

After inviting Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood for a performance of Get Back, Macca then invited his ex-bandmate to the stage for the encore, telling the crowds: "So, we have another surprise for you. Bringing to the stage, the mighty, the one and only, Ringo Starr!"

The legendary duo went on to perform Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) before going going straight into an electrifying version of Helter Skelter.

Read more:

• Ringo Starr appears to confirm Barry Keoghan will play him in new Beatles biopic
• Paul McCartney wraps up 2024 Got Back Tour with Ringo Starr and Ronnie Wood at The O2, London