Ringo Starr Tells Dan Rather How He Joined The Beatles as Their New Drummer

The legendary Ringo Starr sat down with veteran reporter Dan Rather, reflecting upon his early years of music and how he came to be the drummer for The Beatles. Starr recalled that he was drumming with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, playing the same venues as The Beatles, when he got the call from Brian Epstein to join the Fab Four.

Sometimes the two bands shared the top billing. Ringo became friends with, and a fan of, The Beatles. Then a fateful call in 1962 from the Beatles manager Brian Epstein set Ringo on the path to greatness.

Ringo also talked about his early influences, his fascination with music, and his preference for being in a band.

I love to be in a band. I’m a band guy… because of The Beatles and that you know, I’m I am the guy. It’s Ringo and the All Stars right, but I play with all these other guys as they play for me and it sort of worked out since 1980. Now be 30 years, I’ve been doing this part of my life

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.