Ringo Starr has spoken to Music Week about The Beatles, AI and his love of country music ahead of the release of his first album in six years.
The 84-year-old icon, who drops Look Up (Decca/UMG Nashville) on January 10, returned to the chart peak with his former band in November 2023 courtesy of “the last Beatles song” Now And Then (257,230 sales, OCC), which was completed with the help of artificial intelligence.
As well as giving the Fab Four their 18th UK No.1, the single also cracked the Top 10 in the US, where it is up for Record Of The Year and Best Rock Performance at the 2025 Grammys.
Speaking in our 2024 In Review issue, out now, Starr said he was hopeful of adding another award or two to his collection.
“I’d love to win a Grammy," said the drummer. "That’s the business I’m in – and the track is good. The last track ever by the boys."
The song was written and sung by John Lennon, developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and finally finished by McCartney and Starr over four decades later.
"We tried it in the ’90s when we got [1995 single] Free As A Bird out, but we didn’t take much interest because it didn’t sound like John, and George got a bit fed up," recalled Starr. "He didn’t want to do a third one and so we just put it to bed, but now they’ve got better equipment. They lifted John’s voice off a cassette, for God’s sake – off a cassette! And it was like John was suddenly in town.”
We’re all a bit afraid of AI, because it can steal you... But the good side is the way we used it on Now And Then
Ringo Starr
Starr revealed that McCartney got in touch with him last year to outline his plans for the record.
“He said, ‘You know that track we did? Well, I’ll put it together. Are you going to play drums on it?’" recalled Starr. "I said, ‘Sure, send the files over.’ That’s how we do it now – and I put the drums on and sang on the chorus.
"He did a great job. He put the strings on and the lead guitar that gave the track its emotion. It worked out really great and let’s hope for a Grammy. We’ll see; a lot of people are up for Grammys.”
While Starr confessed to harbouring concerns about AI, he pointed out that Now And Then highlighted the upside of its potential when it comes to music.
“We’re all a bit afraid of it, because it can steal you,” he reflected. “Anyone who knows how to use it can steal you. If they just play any five of my songs into the computer, AI gets all of it and knows my every vocal move. They can have me sing anything and it will sound like me, because it’s taken from my personality.
"But the good side is the way we used it on Now And Then. God knows where it’s going to go. We’re all worrying about it, but nobody’s really stolen anything yet.”
The Beatles' current monthly Spotify listenership currently stands north of 33 million, and Starr afforded himself a wry smile at the streaming performance of his most famous composition.
“I was shocked – 100 million streams of Octopus’s Garden,” he said. “I’m No. 51 on the Beatle streaming chart and last year we did four-and-a-half billion streams. The beat goes on.”
I love country. Liverpool loved country and it was a very musical city
Ringo Starr
Meanwhile, Starr's new LP Look Up – his first full-length LP since 2019's What's My Name, sees the sticksman rekindle his love affair with country music. Special guests include Alison Krauss, along with Nashville talent such as Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius and Molly Tuttle.
"I love country," he said. "Liverpool loved country and it was a very musical city. A lot of the lads in the neighbourhood were in the merchant navy; they’d go to America and come back with all these records.
“I think there’s a resurgence in country music, which is good for me – I’ve got a country record coming out!"
Starr, whose previous country album, Beaucoups Of Blues, was released more than half a century ago, credited Beyoncé’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter for helping bring the genre "to the fore".
“It’s having an uplift right now and it’s great.” he said, adding that the record came about following a chance meeting with his longtime friend, producer and former Bob Dylan guitarist T Bone Burnett in Los Angeles.
"He and I have been bumping into each other since the ’70s and he told me he was making an EP, so I said, ‘Well, if you had a song, maybe you could send it to me and I’ll put the drums on it and sing it?’" said Starr. "So he sent me this country song and I loved it.
“I thought maybe I’d ask T Bone to do an EP, but we were sitting around in the studio and I said, ‘How many songs have you got? And he goes, ‘Nine,’ so I thought, ‘Oh, let’s make it a real record!’”
The full interview with Ringo Starr features in the new issue of Music Week – subscribers can read it in full here.
