Top Facts About Ringo Starr

1. Born in 1940, Richard Starkey was a very sickly child and nearly died following peritonitus, and about seven years later he came down with tuberculosis. He missed a lot of school, had fallen behind and was feeling like an outcast. He would abandon school when he was just 15, and if it wasn't for music who knows what would have happened. Before becoming a Beatle he played in several others bands and was considered a good, even excelent drummer.

2. He was nicknamed Ringo after taking up the habit of wearing several large rings on his fingers.

3. On his very first live performance with the Beatles, after the sudded departure of Pete Best (who was fired in a rather brutal manner) Ringo wasn't very well received by a large portion of the audience, who wanted Best back. The atmosphere really made the drummer nervous and might have made his not to play at his very best.

4. During the Beatles years you can hear him singing on Octopus's Garden, Yellow Submarine and With a Little Help From My Friends.

5. He was the oldest Beatles, three months older than Lennon, yet he was the last to join the band.

6. Among the three surviving Beatles Ringo Starr was the first to appear in an episode, in 1991, and among other scenes he thanks Marge Simpson for a painting that she had sent him. And according to the musician he really enjoyed the experience.

7. For those who love model trains Ringo Starr is also well-known as the narrator for the first two seasons of the Thomas & Friends television series. Not only he was very popular to children and grownups alike, but he managed to give the show a certain charm that many long time fans are still missing.

8. In several interviews he said that in his youth he didn't keep most of the records, photos and newspaper clippings, as he wasn't such a fan of memorabilia. He regrets it now and wishes he had constructed a large Beatles collection. At least he gave many of these valuable artefacts away to friends and fans.

9. He was nominated 27 times for the Grammy Awards and won nine times, two times during his solo years.

10. He was not only funny, but somewhat of a peacemaker in the troubled Beatles years and later. He made his best efforts to remain friend with the others three members of the band, and often rushed to their side when they needed someone. Yet the pressure was getting to him, hence the drinking in the 80s and a strange breakdown in about 1976, when he simply shaved his hair, including his eyebrows, in a Syd Barrett way.

Photo: wikipedia.org,