Sir Ringo reveals ‘hidden’ message from Lennon

Sir Ringo Starr has revealed the unexpected message John Lennon left for him on a long-lost demo recorded shortly before his death.

Sir Ringo has teamed up with Sir Paul McCartney to record a version of Grow Old With Me, which was written by Lennon during the sessions for Double Fantasy, the final record he made before he was shot dead outside his Manhattan apartment on December 8 1980.

Sir Ringo said he only learned of the demo and the personal message from his former Beatles bandmate years later, prompting him to record the song.

The former Beatles drummer, 79, was introduced to the song by record producer Jack Douglas, who produced Lennon’s Grammywinning album, which is also credited to Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono.

Sir Ringo told the BBC: “I’d never heard about this track and I bumped into the producer, Jack Douglas. He said ‘Did you ever hear the John cassette?’.

“(I said) ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ He said ‘I’ll get you a copy.’

“It says on the beginning ‘This will be great for you, Ringo.’ And so I said ‘I’m going to do the track.”’

Sir Ringo enlisted the help of Sir Paul, 77, to play bass on the track, which he previously admitted had brought him to tears when he first heard it.

Announcing his new album, What’s My Name, on which Grow Old With Me features, Ringo said: “The idea that John was talking about me in that time before he died, well, I’m an emotional person. And I just loved this song. I sang it the best that I could.”