How Ringo Starr Got His Stage Name, According to Cynthia Lennon

Ringo Starr is an award-winning drummer best known as a “good-natured” member in the Beatles. He wrote original songs under the stage name, with John Lennon’s ex-wife elaborating on his choice to use a stage name. Here’s the meaning behind this artist’s alias, as noted in the 2005 memoir John. 

What is Ringo Starr’s real name?

As the last member to join the Beatles, Ringo Starr functioned as the group’s drummer, performing on “Hey Jude,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Twist and Shout,” and other hits by the rock band.

Although most listeners know him by his stage name, Ringo Starr’s birth name is Richard Starkey. When he was knighted, he also used his real name officially becoming Sir Richard Starkey.

Cynthia Lennon shares the meaning behind Ringo Starr’s stage name 

In her 2005 memoir, Cynthia Lennon described her first impressions of the Beatles, meeting George Harrison was he was only 16 years old and only meeting Ringo Starr after she married Lennon. In John, she also shared her perspective on Ringo Starr’s name change from Richard Starkey (and the meaning behind his stage name).

“It was then that he changed his name from Richard Starkey to Ringo Starr,” Lennon wrote, “’Ringo’ after the gold rings he always wore and ‘Starr’ because Butlins shortened his name so that they could call his solo spot ‘Starr Time.'”

Although the two got “off on the wrong foot” when they first met, Cynthia Lennon later described the Beatles’ drummer as one of the most “good-natured” men alive – also noting he was the perfect addition to the group.

He continued performing with Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Harrison until the group’s split in 1970. Even after that, the songwriter collaborated with McCartney, appearing on stage alongside his former bandmate. It was actually this drummer who informed Cynthia Lennon of her ex-husband’s murder in 1980. 

Ringo Starr wrote music for the Beatles (and as a solo artist)

Although Lennon and McCartney were the primary songwriting duo for the Beatles, Ringo Starr created originals specifically for this rock band. That includes “Octopus’s Garden” off Abbey Road. 

Even after the Beatles broke up, Ringo Starr kept his stage name, releasing music under the same alias. He created Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and, in 2022, released his third original EP. In 2019, he even released an album titled What’s My Name. When asked if people know who he is, the former Beatles member said no.

“But the craziest things happen,” the drummer said during an interview with AARP. “John died in 1980. In the ‘90s I’m walking down Walton Street in London and a guy says, ‘Hey, John, what’s happening?’ Oftentimes they only know it’s one of us. They just don’t know who.”

Now, music by Ringo Starr (and the Beatles) is available on most major streaming platforms.