Richard Starkey, nicknamed Richie, was born in Liverpool on January 7, 1940. He was an only child. His mother, Elsie, walked out on his father, Richard, and him when Richard was three years old.
As a child, Richard was ill often. His appendix exploded, had 2 operations, went into a coma for ten weeks, and was in the hospital for a year at the age of six.

In 1953, he had an effusion of one lung. He was in the hospital for two years. The same year, Elsie married Harry Graves.

 

 

 Richard originally had no musical interest and didn’t play an instrument as a boy. He started playing the drums when the skiffle craze came to Britain.

Richard then changed his name to Rings, because of his love for them. He soon modified Rings to Ringo and condensed his last name to Starr.
He played a few stand-in gigs with the Beatles, and John Lennon offered him 25 pounds to join. The Dominoes offered him five pounds less, so he joined the Beatles. He was the oldest one.

 

 

 Ringo married his childhood sweetheart, Maureen Cox (a student hairdresser) on February 11, 1965. Their son, Zak Starkey, was bon on September 13, 1965. Being an only child, Ringo wanted his son to have the experience of siblings, so their other son, Jason, was born on August 19, 1967. On November 11, 1970, their daughter, Lee Parkin Starkey, was born.
Maureen and Ringo seemed happy together, but they surprisingly divorced in July of 1975, and in 1981, Ringo married Barbara Bach.

 

 

 Ringo didn’t write many songs with the Beatles, his most famous being Octopus’s Garden. After the Beatles’ breakup, he had a successful solo career. Along with Paul, Ringo is one of the last two living Beatles.

  John Lennon

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

  Paul McCartney

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