{"id":48219,"date":"2025-07-08T08:32:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T08:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/48219\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T08:32:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T08:32:11","slug":"ringo-starr-celebrates-85th-birthday-with-help-from-a-cast-of-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/48219\/","title":{"rendered":"Ringo Starr Celebrates 85th Birthday With Help From a Cast of Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tT Bone Burnett<\/a> used the occasion of Ringo Starr<\/a>\u2018s birthday celebration in Beverly Hills to raise what he considers to be an eternal debate. \u201cI do want to say that there is a controversy about Ringo Starr\u2019s drumming,\u201d the producer-emcee said. \u201cThe question is, is he a great drummer, or is he the greatest drummer?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat issue has probably long since been settled for most of the dozens of friends, family and guests who made it to Beverly Hills Garden Park Monday on the occasion of Starr\u2019s 85th. It was not just his percussion skills being extolled, of course. As Burnett told Variety backstage, \u201cYou know, Ringo is an extraordinary force for good in the world. There\u2019s nobody like him \u2014 nobody creating more good will than Ringo Starr.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe semi-private, semi-public function \u2014 with fans and new media gathered around the perimeter of a celeb-filled garden party \u2014 is always livestreamed each July 7 so that the former Beatle\u2019s followers can chant or shout his catchphrase \u201cPeace and love\u201d at noon PT. In recent years the tradition has extended to include a short concert of Starr\u2019s hits prior to the countdown, with performances this year curated by Burnett and performed by a cast that included Jackson Browne, Sam Phillips, Lucius<\/a> and Molly Tuttle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStarr had his phone out to do his own personal livestream of these cover versions of his songs to a one-man audience. After the final number, Starr stood up from the front row of folding chairs planted in the grass and held up his phone, telling the audience: \u201cJust to let you know, Paul thought it was great!\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRingo Starr with the phone he was using to stream performances at his 85th birthday celebration to Paul McCartney
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tTuttle, the young bluegrass-pop performer, was first up among the performers, singing the Beatles\u2019 \u201cOctopus\u2019s Garden,\u201d after being introduced by Burnett as \u201cmy favorite guitar player at the moment; also, my favorite singer.\u201d He featured her on the recent country-flavored album he produced for Starr, \u201cLook Up\u201d (and she\u2019ll be on the sequel, but more about that in a minute). Tuttle, who also appeared on a recent network tribute to Starr filmed in Nashville, enthused backstage about how he lived up to her expectations. \u201cThis is my third show with Ringo, and it\u2019s been so fun. I was just overjoyed to get to be here for his birthday party,\u201d she said. \u201cI grew up listening to Ringo, but then getting to be around him in person, his joy and love is kind of infectious for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMolly Tuttle and Sam Phillips perform at Ringo Starr\u2019s 85th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tFrom then on, each new singer who came to the stage stayed aboard to sing with whoever came next. Following Tuttle came Sam Phillips, who sang Starr\u2019s biggest solo hit from the early \u201970s, \u201cPhotograph.\u201d The duo Lucius then emerged to take the lead on \u201cYellow Submarine,\u201d including a birthday-themed variation on the spoken-word nautical bits. Jackson Browne\u2019s turn came with \u201cAct Naturally,\u201d a cover of the Beatles\u2019 cover of Buck Owens. And then the full cast joined together, sort of, for \u201cA Little Help From My Friends,\u201d which the band had rehearsed but the singers had not, leaving drummer Gregg Bissonete to fill in some of the lines that no one else seemed quite prepared to.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDavid Mansfield and Lucius perform at Ringo Starr\u2019s 85th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t think about it, but we get to sing these songs looking at you, Ringo,\u201d said Browne, before launching into his given tune just a few yards from Starr in the front row. That\u2019s a remark that would usually convey nervousness, but Jackson didn\u2019t seem particularly rattled (because if as convivial a legend as Ringo Starr induces anxiety in you, maybe you\u2019re doing it wrong?).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJackson Browne and Joe Walsh at Ringo Starr\u2019s 85th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tLongtime BFF Joe Walsh also got up to join in the sing-alongs as well as do some speechifying. The crackerjack band being seen by the partygoers in Beverly Hills (and by Paul McCartney, somewhere out there) was mostly a complement of the T Bone Burnett all-stars, including David Mansfield, Dennis Crouch and Colin Linden, plus Bissonette, who plays in Starr\u2019s touring All Star Band, and John Jorgenson. <\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the performances ended, there was a gap before the countdown, and so Burnett introduced an additional musician who\u2019d volunteered to give a short lesson in the trademark drumming style of Ringo Starr: Fred Armisen<\/a>. \u201cThere is not a greater drummer in the world.,\u201d Armisen avowed as he sat down at the kit. \u201cSo I\u2019m gonna do an impression of Ringo\u2019s drumming, because when he plays, if you ever watch him, he\u2019s actually dancing as he plays \u2014 it\u2019s a beautiful thing \u2014 (even as) he lays down such a heavy beat.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tBackstage afterward, Armisen added, \u201cI would say since I was 8 years old, easily, maybe younger, I\u2019ve been copying Ringo. When I first heard the Beatles, the first thing that caught my ear and made an impression on me was the drumming. So I\u2019ve been doing it most of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFred Armisen offers a sample of Ringo Starr\u2019s drumming style at his 85th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tWalsh got up to offer some recollections that, being more of a contemporary of Starr\u2019s, had gone down in real time. \u201cI was a really dumb guy in Montclair, New Jersey in high school,\u201d Walsh told the crowd, \u201cand I washed dishes at a ice cream place, and while I was washing the dishes, \u2018I Want to Hold Your Hand\u2019 came on. \u201cAnd from then, 1963, I thought that\u2019s what I wanted to do. Because I didn\u2019t have a clue until I stood there in the kitchen and said, \u2018What the hell is that?\u2019 And I just want to say, since 1963, the entire world has had somebody to love, and that is Ringo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWalsh did find somebody else to love, through Starr. \u201cWhen I was doing an album with Ringo in England called \u2018Old Wave,\u2019 I was at at their house and Barbara (Bach)\u2019s little sister stopped by for three minutes, and I was in love with Barbara\u2019s sister from then on. And then I was at their house in L.A. \u2014 this is many, many years later \u2014and I saw Marjorie again and we hugged each other. And she said, \u2018Did you feel that?\u2019 And I said, yeah. And Marjorie has been the love of my life after many years of thinking: Well, would this be incest, or how would this work? And would Rich and Barb kill me?\u201d They did not. \u201cMarjorie is the love of my life, and she\u2019s a high-ranking officer in the Starkey family,\u201d before asking all the members of that clan, including children (like Zak Starkey) and grandchildren, to stand up.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tBarbara Bach, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh and Marjorie Bach at Starr\u2019s 85th birthday celebration in Beverly HIlls
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a birthday cake was cut and Starr was given a proclamation of the day being Ringo Starr Day from the mayor, he waxed appreciative of both the city and state. \u201cThank you, Beverly Hills,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know, I lived in Admiral Grove in Liverpool. You couldn\u2019t dream of ending up here. I did end up being in a good band, though! When you come to America, being British, it was like touching gold, because all of the songs and the singers and musicians we loved came from America. We were there in New York and you think, \u2018Maybe I should live in New York.\u2019 Then we came to California\u2026 \u2018maybe California!\u2019 And next time \u2013 \u2018definitely California!\u201d Not all of the Beatles took to it that severely, but Starr said, \u201cI love it here, I love the people, I love the attitude. And the peace and love that\u2019s shown in this state is incredible. And all the other states are trying,\u201d he added, to laughter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tStarr has been riding high on the acclaim for the \u201cLook Up\u201d album. The good news, Burnett said backstage, is that a followup is already underway. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re already halfway into another record, with a lot of the same people,\u201d said Burnett. \u201cMolly\u2019s played on four songs so far. I mean, she killed that song this morning, \u2018Octopus\u2019s Garden\u2019 \u2014 which is, you know, a country song. I don\u2019t think people thought of it as a country song at the time, but all of Ringo\u2019s stuff is basically country music. He\u2019s sort of a hillbilly at heart, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tT Bone Burnett presides over Ringo Starr\u2019s 85th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n

\n\tWill the sequel be in the same vein? \u201cYeah, I think it will,\u201d Burnett said. \u201cHe\u2019s calling it \u2018Look Up II.\u2019 But it\u2019s interesting. When we started (on the previous album), neither one of us had any idea what we were doing, but it all came together through that process. And now we have a proof of concept, and so we\u2019re building on that.\u201d He backtracked just a little on the new album continuing exactly on the same track. \u201cThis is a little more hardcore rockabilly, this next iteration, because, you know, his early stuff (with the Beatles), like \u2019Honey Don\u2019t,\u2019 all of that stuff was basically rockabilly music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Burnett also loves Starr\u2019s gentler side. Asked if he had a favorite obscure song of Starr\u2019s, after an agreement that no actual Beatles track counts as obscure, the producer came up with one. \u201cThere\u2019s some songs I love. \u201cWhat\u2019s that Harry Nilsson song he did after the Beatles? It\u2019s a ballad \u2013 \u2018Easy for Me\u2019 (from the 1974 album \u2018Goodnight Vienna\u2019). That\u2019s a song that\u2019s really where I learned about and understood Ringo\u2019s voice \u2014 and probably, I think, it\u2019s his true voice on that song, so that\u2019s an important song to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBurnett has other aspirations for Starr, whether or not he wants to pick them up. \u201cHe\u2019s doing about two tours a year still with the All Starr Band. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019ll ever get into it, but I would love to do show with all of these musicians, just focused around Ringo. Because with the All Starr band, there are a lot of different singers, and I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s up for singing 15 songs in a night, but that\u2019s my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s one thing Burnett can say with confidence, anyway. \u201cI don\u2019t think either of us is ready to be put out to pasture yet, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tRingo Starr at his 80th birthday celebration in Beverly Hills
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe members of Lucius celebrate Ringo Starr\u2019s 85th birthday in Beverly Hills before performing
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStevo Rood\/ARoodPhoto @aroodphoto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T Bone Burnett used the occasion of Ringo Starr\u2018s birthday celebration in Beverly Hills to raise what he…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48220,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[171,36961,36962,975,977,36963,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-48219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-fred-armisen","10":"tag-lucius","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-ringo-starr","13":"tag-t-bone-burnett","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114816689829328034","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48219\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}