On July 7, 1940, in the rough-and-tumble Dingle neighborhood of Liverpool, England, a baby named Richard Starkey was born. Nobody knew it then, but this kid would grow up to sit behind the drum kit of the most famous band in history. As a child, Richard was sick a lot - he spent years in hospitals - and during one long stay, he picked up a drumstick from a music therapy session. The rhythm clicked. He never wanted to put it down.
In his teens, Richard joined a band called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, where he traded his real name for the snappier 'Ringo Starr' - Ringo because of the rings he wore on every finger, and Starr because his drum solos were called 'Starr Time.' He was already a star drummer on the Liverpool scene when, in August 1962, three young musicians called John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison invited him to join their band, the Beatles. Six weeks later they recorded 'Love Me Do.' The world was about to change.
With Ringo's steady beat anchoring them, the Beatles released songs like 'Hey Jude,' 'Yellow Submarine,' and 'Come Together,' selling over 600 million records and starring in their own movies. Ringo even sang lead on classics like 'Yellow Submarine' and 'With a Little Help from My Friends.' After the band split in 1970, he kept making music, narrated the children's TV show Thomas & Friends, and was knighted Sir Richard Starkey by the Queen in 2018. From a sick kid in Liverpool to a knight - boom-tish indeed.
