A Crazed Beatles Fan Once Scratched Ringo Starr’s Girlfriend
The Beatles had avid fans — one of whom even intentionally scratched Ringo Starr’s then-girlfriend, Maureen Tigrett. Here’s what Cynthia Lennon said about growing up adjacent to the rock band in her 2005 memoir John.
Ringo Starr began dating hairdresser Maureen Starkey Tigrett (also known as Mo Starkey)
Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr appeared in the Beatles together — sparking “Beatlemania” with their music and good looks. In her 2005 memoir John, Cynthia Lennon described life adjacent to the rock band.
She was advised not to appear in public alongside the band. However, she wasn’t the only long-term partner of these musicians. Maureen Starkey Tigrett, also known as Mo Starkey, began dating the Beatles’ drummer, with the two getting married after an unexpected pregnancy.
“Maureen had been a fan herself, though never an avid one,” Cynthia Lennon wrote. “She was a trainee hairdresser who went to the Cavern with her friends whenever the Beatles were playing.”
A Beatles fan scratched Ringo Starr’s girlfriend, according to Cynthia Lennon
The Beatles were advised, on several occasions, to be single to appeal to fans. That impacted the long-term girlfriends, who couldn’t always appear at gigs with the Beatles — primarily due to safety concerns.
“When Ringo started dating Maureen, she had to pretend she wasn’t seeing him,” Lennon noted in the same memoir. “One night she was waiting for him in the car outside a gig when a girl came up, put her hand through the window, and scratched her face.”
“She managed to lock the doors and wind up the window before the girl could do anything worse, but it shook her,” Lennon added. This event led then-pregnant Cynthia Lennon to spend time away from her husband.
The Beatles’ growing popularity and fan base even led the artists to stop performing live. Some nicknamed the craze surrounding the band “Beatlemania.”
Who is Ringo Starr’s wife?
Cynthia Lennon had her first son, Julian, with John Lennon. However, with the Beatles growing in popularity, the two spent time apart. Their marriage officially ended in 1968, after Lennon met Yoko Ono. Meanwhile, Mo and Ringo Starr split in 1974.
“When Mo and Ringo parted in 1974, she had been so heartbroken that she got on a motorbike and drove it straight into a brick wall, badly injuring herself,” Lennon wrote. “She had been in love with him since she was fifteen and his public appearances with his new girlfriend, American actress Nancy Andrews, had devastated her.”
In 1981, Ringo Starr married the actor and model Barbara Bach. The couple remains together to this day. Ringo Starr released albums as a solo artist, including his third EP in 2022. He appeared in the official music video for “Everyone and Everything,” with most of his original music available on streaming platforms.
