Ringo Starr says he's still not ready to stop touring at 86

There are few cities in the world as star-packed as Beverly Hills. Movie stars and pop divas are so common that most people barely turn their heads when they pass one on Rodeo Drive or see them buy twenty-dollar eggs at Erewhon. 

But even in a city that's blasé about fame, people stopped in their tracks when they saw the legendary Ringo Starr walking through a Beverly Hills park on his way to his 86th birthday celebration. 

As he joined hundreds of fans, friends and a few awestruck tourists, he stopped to speak with reporters about the past, the future and everything in between. 

One would think that after 67 years as a touring musician, Starr might want to slow down and stay close to home, but he told reporters that even in his 9th decade, he’s still not ready to get off the road. 

“You know I’ve been calling the last tour since like 2021, and my kids are fed up with me. I say ‘no, that’s it, I’m not going out anymore ’, and they ‘oh dad, you said that last year.’ And I’m out again. I’m out this year. So it’s what I do. It’s how it is.”

Starr and his all-starr band have ten tour stops planned along the East Coast in September and October.

Artificial intelligence has rippled through the music industry like an earthquake, leaving many artists unsure of their place when a new pop song can be created with a single prompt.

Starr’s own experience with the technology showed him both its tremendous potential and its dangers.

“My take on it is really abstract. I joined an artist on the East Coast, and they played my track Photograph through the AI system, and it painted the song. So with this painting done by AI, so it can be kind and good and interesting, but on the other side of it, it can steal everything you’ve got.”

Ringo has held his public birthday celebrations since 2008, which have always involved food, music and, of course, a group shout of his slogan “peace and love”. While the party is always free to enjoy, he shared a story about when someone tried to profit from his birthday. 

“It was in Chicago when we did the first one. There were about fifty people there, and somebody made little cakes, and we gave them little cakes and by ten o’clock they were on the internet for $1,000. So somebody got a new car!”

At 86, Starr has little left to prove. He has sold hundreds of millions of records, helped change popular music forever and long ago secured his place in history. Yet when asked about retirement, his answer was the same as it has been for decades: he's heading back out on the road.

Watch the video here.