He’s still a Starr
Ringo to perform ‘back home’ in Big Apple
It took a half century, but Ringo's rockin' a rooftop again — and he's doing it in New York.
Fifty years after he and his fellow Beatles played atop London's Apple Corps headquarters, Ringo Starr will be performing a rooftop concert Sunday at Manhattan's Pier 17 to wrap up a three-day weekend of Empire State shows.
The drummer-singer, 79, is still getting by with a little help from his friends — and loving New York, where the Beatles introduced themselves to America in 1964 when they touched down at Kennedy Airport.
“No one will understand the emotion of us landing in America,” Starr told the Daily News. “But it was New York, and all of the music we loved came from there. It was just far out.
“Because we landed there, everyone in New York thinks we belong to them,” he said with a laugh. “They do, and you feel that. They think, ‘Oh, he's back home.' ”
Besides their iconic gig on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964, Starr's memorable moments in New York include his 70th birthday concert at Radio City Music Hall in 2010, which featured a surprise appearance from Paul McCartney to close the show by singing the Beatles' “Birthday.”
Starr (inset) will be playing with the latest iteration of his All-Starr Band. They take the stage Friday at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts near the site of Woodstock before performing Saturday at the Long Island Community Hospital Amphitheater in Farmingville.
This summer marks the 30-year anniversary of the All-Starr Band, which features accomplished musicians who previously made names for themselves with other groups. This tour's lineup includes Steve Lukather of Toto, Gregg Rolie of Santana, Colin Hay of Men at Work and rockers Gregg Bissonette, Hamish Stuart and Warren Ham.
The All-Starr Band concerts regularly feature Starr performing some of his Beatles tracks like “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help From My Friends” and solo hits such as “Photograph” and “It Don't Come Easy.” He drums when other members of the group play their songs.
Three decades after the first All-Starr concert, Starr remains as excited as ever to perform.
“I love playing with other musicians,” he told The News. “I love the audience and they love me. We both know that. I think it all relates back to this dream I had at 13 when I was in a hospital, and they gave me a little drum. And I hit that drum, because they wanted to keep you busy. We all had [tuberculosis], so we were a bit stationary. The next time [the nurse] came, if she didn't give me a drum, I wasn't going to play in the band. And that's how it started.”
Starr is in the midst of a year of milestones — it's also the 50th birthday of the beloved Beatles album “Abbey Road” on Sept. 26.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer continues to do what he loves, all while holding true to his message of “peace and love.”
“I love to paint, I love to play music, I love to make records and I love to go on tour,” Starr told The News. “I love life.”