It is an important day for the former Beatles drummerDan Haygarth Liverpool Daily Post Editor and Regeneration Reporter
18:08, 07 Jul 2025
Paul McCartney, left, and Ringo Starr attend the Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2024-2025 ready-to-wear collection presented Monday, March 4, 2024(Image: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Paul McCartney sent Ringo Starr a message as the drummer celebrated his 85th birthday. Ringo, who was born Richard Starkey on Madryn Street in Dingle on July 7, 1940, has marked his latest birthday, as he does every year, by inviting people across the world to pause at midday to share the message of ‘peace and love’.
The Beatles Story Museum in Liverpool did so with an arts and crafts workshop. Members of the public took photos alongside a sculpture of a hand in a peace sign that was created using an original casting of Ringo’s right hand.
Paul, 83, was among many high-profile figures to wish the former Beatles drummer all the best on his big day. As he shared a picture of him and Ringo taken by Linda McCartney on Instagram, Paul wrote: “A very happy birthday to my dear friend, Ringo (or should I say, Sir Richard). I hope you have a wonderful day full of love.”
Ringo’s son, former Oasis and The Who drummer Zak Starkey, posted on Instagram to say: “Happy Birthday Dad! I love you x. Fab drumming on this tune!.”
The Dingle-born drummer was interviewed by the New York Times last week ahead of his birthday. The NYT profile saw Ringo speak at length with the newspaper about his Dingle upbringing and his career, while Paul McCartney was also interviewed about his enduring friendship with his former Beatles colleague.
Beatles drummer Ringo Starr pictured in 2021(Image: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Paul explained that being the two surviving Beatles – John and George died in 1980 and 2001 respectively – has brought him and Ringo closer together.
He explained: “With John and George not here, I think we realise nothing lasts forever. So we grasp onto what we have now because we realise that it’s very special.
“It’s something hardly anyone else has. In fact, in our case, it’s something no one else has. There’s only me and Ringo, and we’re the only people who can share those memories.”
Speaking about turning 85, Ringo told the NYT: “It blows me away. I look in the mirror and I’m 24. I never got older than 24. But guess what? You did.”
In the interview, Ringo also revealed he asked for script changes in Sam Mendes’ forthcoming films about The Beatles. The acclaimed director, known for ‘Skyfall’, ‘American Beauty’ and ‘1917’, will work on four films about the band, set for release in April 2028.
Each film will focus on one of The Beatles – Paul, George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo. The cast was confirmed at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas in April – Irish actors Paul Mescal and Barry Keoghan will play Paul and Ringo respectively. London-born Harris Dickinson will play John, while Joseph Quinn, also from the capital, will play George.
Ringo sat with Mendes for two days to go over the script of the film about him. Like all four movies, it has been written by screenwriters Jez Butterworth, Peter Straughan and Jack Thorne, but Ringo had some suggestions for them to make it more authentic and to reflect the reality of his life with his first wife Maureen Starkey Tigret.
He told the NYT: “He had a writer – very good writer, great reputation, and he wrote it great, but it had nothing to do with Maureen and I. That’s not how we were. I’d say, ‘We would never do that’.”