Ringo Starr discusses new music, resuming tour and "the magic" of an unexpected hobby
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band had only played nine gigs before COVID-19 put the musicians on pause. Now, months later, the group is back on tour with a brand new EP and skills from an unexpected hobby learned while quarantining.
"You play it safe because then you're keeping other people safe," Starr told CBS News senior culture correspondent Anthony Mason.
While at home, the 82-year-old former drummer for the Beatles recorded two EP's, and recently released one of them titled EP3.
But along with creating music during lockdown, Starr said a TikTok video he saw inspired him to delve into spin paint — an art form where paint is poured onto a rotating canvas. He said he's turned his home gym into an art room and transformed a guest house into a home studio so that he can "splash paint around."
"I love it," he said. "That's the magic of painting, you do something and then, 'Wow, look what came out of it.'"
He compared the art form to music but noted that while performing with others, "you all have to play in the same key."
His Band of All-Starrs is currently in its 15th lineup since Starr first assembled the group. He said changing the members "keeps it now."
The band now includes Edgar Winter, Steve Lukather of the band Toto, Colin Hay of the group Men at Work, Gregg Bissonette of David Lee Roth's band, Hamish Stuart of Average White Band and saxophonist Warren Ham.
"The rehearsals are always hard the first day," Starr said.
The musician also discussed the recent Disney+ film, "The Beatles: Get Back," directed by Peter Jackson. The three-part documentary series covers the making of the band's 1970 album "Let It Be." Starr, who was an executive producer for the documentary, praised Jackson.
"I love what he did," he said.
The musician's passion for the drums began at the age of 13, when Starr — whose real name is Richard Starkey — was hospitalized with tuberculosis.
"To keep us busy, this woman came in with a lot of triangles, tambourines, drums this big that you hit and I hit that drum and I wanted to be a drummer from that moment," he said.
At 20, Starr quit his job in a factory to play with a band in Liverpool called Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.
"But every member of our family came to our house to tell me, "Are you crazy?" he recalled.
Then in 1962, Ringo left the Hurricanes to join the Beatles. In 1989, Starr created Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band.
"It worked out well," he said.