Ringo Starr Turns 70, Discusses Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga

by Jordan Yerman | July 7, 2010 at 07:30 am

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Beatles Drummer Ringo Starr Turns 70

Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool, England) celebrates his 70th birthday today. Ringo and Paul McCartney are the only surviving Beatles, as George Harrison passed away in 2001 and John Lennon was murdered in 1980.

Ringo Starr looks back on an extraordinary life that included ashrams in India, screaming teenage fans around the world and the inspiration to write "Octopus's Garden", which George Harrison described as "cosmic".

'Justin Bieber Stole My Haircut'

Ringo Starr's career has continued beyond the 1970 breakup of the Beatles and, reflecting on today's pop stars, he notices that Justin Bieber stole his hairdo. Back in the day, though, those let's-just-call-them-Beatles haircuts were considered shaggy and long.

Ringo doesn't let that bother him, though: according to him, were a pop star today, he'd want to be Lady Gaga. Starr is currently on a North American tour with the All-Starr band.

"Arriving in New York is still one of the most incredible moments of my life. And there was no plan," Starr tells Sawyer, the famous "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance in 1964. "We didn't know him, he didn't know us, he just booked us, and by the time we got here it was number one and crazy, but it was just great."

Indeed, the snare drum that Ringo Starr used on that fateful US tour has been gold-plated, and will be featured at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for the rest of the year.

Parents know his music. Kids know his voice as the narrator on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.