Ringo Starr Reflects on His Close Friendship with Paul McCartney: ‘He’s the Brother I Never Had’

Ringo Starr is grateful that he’s all the time gotten by with somewhat assist from his buddies. 

The Beatles rocker, 83, seems on the quilt of AARP’s December 2023/January 2024 concern and opened up within the interview revealed on Tuesday about how he considered his bandmates as his “brothers” — and revealed how a lot he values the shut relationship that is still between him and Paul McCartney.

“Paul loves me as a lot as I really like him,” the legendary musician mentioned of the vocalist/bassist, 81, who he not too long ago teamed up with to complete and launch the ultimate Beatles music, “Now and Then.” “He’s the brother I by no means had.”

In a video interview launched together with the quilt story, the drummer additionally sung his praises of McCartney’s work ethic and credited him for the quantity of celebrated output that The Beatles launched throughout their time as a gaggle from 1962 to 1970. “Paul liked to work greater than all of us,” he shared within the clip. “John and I’d be, like, hanging out within the backyard and the telephone would ring and we knew it was him.”

“‘Hey lads, ought to we go into the studio?” ‘Alright, yeah,’” he continued, making an impression of the interplay. “I’ve all the time thanked him for being that man as a result of in any other case we’d have put, like, three albums out and vanished.”

The Grammy winner additionally instructed the outlet that he thought-about the complete band to be like his second household. “As an solely little one, instantly I obtained three brothers. We appeared out for one another,” Starr revealed. 

The rock star defined that it isn’t misplaced on him that every member of the band — together with the late John Lennon and the late George Harrison — helped him to jot down music that allowed him to shine and put his vocals on the forefront. “John wrote a number of songs for me over time, and George too,” he mentioned, referring to tracks like “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help from My Friends,” which Lennon and McCartney wrote, and the Harrison-penned “Photograph” from 1973’s Ringo, amongst others. 

“I was a rock drummer, after which they ruined my complete profession,” he joked whereas reportedly laughing. “‘With a Little Help’ and ‘Yellow Submarine’ are the explanations I’m onstage each evening.”

Still right now, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer performs songs written by his bandmates for him when he takes the stage with His All Starr Band — even historically closing out the present with the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band basic “With a Little Help from My Friends.” 

McCartney, too, continues to collaborate with him: The new monitor “Feeling the Sunlight” off Starr’s current EP Rewind Forward, which arrived in October, was written for him by the enduring songwriter.

The “Octopus’s Garden” singer added of his relationship with the British group, “We all went mad at totally different occasions. You can’t think about what it was like, being in The Beatles. It obtained larger and crazier.”

Starr and McCartney teamed up earlier this yr to launch “Now and Then,” which has been referred to as the ultimate music to function all members of The Fab Four and dropped on Nov. 2. The two completed the somber ballad with each new recordings and fashionable expertise used to boost the audio high quality of Lennon’s vocals from the ‘70s, in addition to guitar from Harrison from when the band first tried to finish the music within the ‘90s. 

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Over the years, each rockers have spoken candidly about their long-running friendship. 

Earlier this yr, Starr shared on social media what a enjoyable time the 2 had reuniting and dancing collectively on the curler skating-themed birthday celebration for McCartney’s daughter Stella McCartney. 

On Starr’s personal birthday in July, the “Hey Jude” singer took a second to rejoice him with a considerate put up on Instagram, during which he referred to as him considered one of his “heroes.” 

The drummer additionally confirmed in a 2021 look on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he’s simply as shut with McCartney right now as he was when their friendship started, sharing that they “usually” FaceTime and often spend time collectively.