Name: Richard Starkey

Date of Birth: July 7, 1940

Parents: Richard & Elsie

He was a sickly child, which left his schooling virtually non-existent, and his work experience in a variety of short-term jobs limited. His main enthusiasm was for playing drums, starting on a kit bought for him by his stepfather, Harry Graves, who had married Elsie in 1953.

In 1957 Ringo joined the Eddie Clayton Skiffle Band, and got a fancier drum set. Two years later he joined the Raving Texans, which later became Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. His habit of wearing an inordinate number of rings earned him his nickname. Ringo first met George, Paul, and John in Hamburg, Germany when he sat in for Pete Best, the Beatles' original drummer. He quickly became friends with the three, but remained the drummer of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. That all changed in August of 1962 when the Beatles were signed by Parlophone Records. Their producer, George Martin, recommended that they get a new drummer, and after much persuasion from their manager, Brian Epstein, they agreed to get rid of Pete. It was on August 18, 1962 that Ringo Starr joined the Beatles. However, Martin wasn't more impressed with his drumming than he had been with Pete's.

Somehow, the Beatles persuaded Martin that Ringo would be able to handle the job once he settled in. And so it was...the Beatles were complete. On February 11, 1965, Ringo married his eighteen-year old girlfriend Maureen Cox, and by Christmas Zak Starkey was born. Throughout the better part of his career with the Beatles, most of the songs on which Ringo had the lead vocal were written by John, Paul, or George. However, in published interviews as early as 1963, references can be found to a song in progress called 'Don't Pass Me By', which turned out to be Ringo's compositional debut on the "White Album" in 1968. It was during the recording for the "White Album" that Ringo first left the band, mainly because they no longer seemed to be working in harmony. But after a brief departure, John, George, and Paul persuaded Ringo to come back, and so this bit of news wasn't made common knowledge. Sadly, the release of the album Let It Be marked the end of the road for the Beatles. Ringo, the least sure of his artistic survival, was on more Beatle solo albums than any of his colleagues during the second half of 1970. By keeping busy with his own albums and acting in various films, Ringo showed the world that he could have a successful and productive career without the Beatles.