Ringo Starr may be best known as the legendary drummer for The Beatles, but there are some things about this 75-year-old musician that most people don’t know. Here, we present our list of 15 things you don’t know about Ringo Starr. Check out part one below, and stay tuned for part two, coming soon!
Number Fifteen: He Was Part of a Children’s Show. In the mid-1980s, Ringo was hired to be part of the children’s show called Thomas The Tank Engine. He voiced the narrator and a character named Mr. Conductor.
Number Fourteen: He Was Naturally Left-Handed. Like fellow Beatles member Paul McCartney, Ringo was naturally left-handed. However, rather than play music that way, he played on a right-handed drum set. His grandma was the one who encouraged him to be ambidextrous.
Number Thirteen: He Wasn’t Always Confident of His Position With The Beatles. On his first day at the Abbey Records Studio, Ringo was replaced by 32-year-old Andy White after producer George Martin said he would prefer a session drummer. This made him concerned that he would lose his spot with The Beatles.
Number Twelve: He Has Been Insulted by Muhammed Ali. Apparently, Muhammed Ali was not a big fan of Ringo’s drumming skills. He is reported as saying, “My dog plays better drums!” about Ringo’s drumming. As a drummer, Ringo got a lot of flack.
Number Eleven: He Entered Himself Into Rehab. After waking up one morning next to his bloody wife, Ringo realized he had beat her the night before and had no memory of the incident. It was then that he decided to check himself into rehab. His wife is Barbara Bach, and the two have been married since 1981.
Number Ten: He Had Many “Ringoisms.” Growing up, Ringo would get made fun of for his malapropisms, or his common confusion of similar-sounding words. School children would often ask him to talk and make fun of him, calling his malapropisms “Ringoisms.”
Number Nine: He Starred in a Movie With Roger Daltrey. Roger Daltrey of The Who was in the 1975 film Lisztomania. Ringo was also in this movie, and he played the pope.