Ringo Starr, musician: I never play music alone
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 26 April 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
“If you play piano, bass guitar, saxophone, I don’t care - I'll play with you all night. That's how I did it. And I tell all my grandkids - get an event, get a few of your schoolmates together. They're practising and playing by themselves. Get with people!”
Regan Morris speaks to musician Ringo Starr about his career. Born in Liverpool, England, during the Second World War in 1940, Ringo, real-name Richard Starkey, found fame as the drummer of the legendary British band The Beatles - widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in music history.
After joining John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in 1962, the four-piece became a global pop music sensation through hits such as ‘She Loves You’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Penny Lane’, and ‘Hey Jude’. They also released multiple studio albums and starred in five major motion pictures.
Although the band split up in 1970, their legacy continues to live on. They remain one of the best-selling musical acts of all time over half a century later. And such was his and the band’s cultural impact, that Ringo, one of two surviving members of The Beatles, received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace for his services to music in 2018.
But despite achieving seemingly all that can be achieved in a music career, the 85-year-old seems to be showing no interest in retirement — he’s just released his third country album, which is his 22nd album as a solo artist. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith and Pete Townshend. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Regan Morris Producer: Ben Cooper Editor: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Ringo Starr Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.2 | Hello, I'm BBC reporter Regan Morris, and this is the interview from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:13.2 | The best conversations coming out of the BBC, people shaping our world from all over the world. |
| 0:20.4 | If you're not a little bit afraid, then you're not paying attention. |
| 0:25.1 | We have never seen a people so united. |
| 0:28.6 | Do not make that boat crossing. Do not make that journey. |
| 0:31.3 | Being born in America, feeling American, having people treat me like I'm not. |
| 0:35.4 | We're more popular than populism. |
| 0:38.9 | For this interview, I met musician Ringo Starr at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood, |
| 0:45.6 | a rock star hangout just behind the sunset strip. Born in Liverpool, England, during the |
| 0:50.8 | Second World War in 1940, Ringo, real-named Richard Starkey, found fame as the |
| 0:56.3 | drummer of the legendary British band The Beatles, widely regarded as one of the most influential |
| 1:01.5 | acts in music history. After joining John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison in 1962, |
| 1:08.7 | the four-piece band became a global pop music sensation through hits such as She |
| 1:14.0 | Loves You, Yesterday, Penny Lane, and Hey Jude. They also released multiple studio albums and starred |
| 1:21.4 | in five major motion pictures. Although the band split up in 1970, their legacy continues to live on. They remain one of the |
| 1:29.3 | best-selling musical acts of all time over half a century later, alongside the likes of Elvis Presley |
| 1:35.2 | and Michael Jackson. And such was his and the band's cultural impact that Ringo, one of two |
| 1:41.2 | surviving members of the Beatles, received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace |
| 1:44.9 | for his services to music in 2018. But despite achieving seemingly all that can be achieved |
| 1:51.2 | in a music career, the 85-year-old seems to be showing no interest in retirement. He's just |
| 1:57.1 | released his 22nd album as a solo artist. And life as a solo artist has proved to be something of a cultural shift for Ringo, |
... |
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