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Ringo Starr and The Beatles had women (not just teenage girls) swooning when they hit it big. The drummer seemingly lost the chance at one relationship in 1964 because he was intellectually dumb. Yet the drummer might not have minded. Ringo found love years earlier and spoke the sweetest words of the woman who became his first wife.

Ringo Starr and his first wife, Maureen, photographed at home in 1965.
Ringo Starr (left) and his wife, Maureen Starr | Eatwell/Daily Herald/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Ringo Starr had to pretend to be single when he was in The Beatles

John Lennon got married soon after Ringo joined The Beatles. The drummer started a committed relationship with Maureen (Mo) Cox around the same time. Yet John had to hide his marriage and Ringo his relationship from the public; the predominating wisdom of the day said pop stars should be single to appeal to more female fans.

Female Beatles fans threatened (and in one case assaulted) Cox when she and Ringo started dating. Even as he spent nights at clubs and faced throngs of American fans after the Fab Four’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, the drummer remained committed to her.

The Liverpool natives married in 1965 and never seemed to forget their modest backgrounds. Ringo and Mo lived like simple people in their mansion even after the drummer made millions from playing with The Beatles. The marriage didn’t last, but that doesn’t change the fact Ringo spoke some sweet words about his wife.

Ringo spoke sweet words about his wife, Maureen

Ringo Starr (left) and his first wife, Maureen, shortly after their 1965 wedding.
Ringo Starr (left) and his first wife, Maureen | Bettmann

The drummer faced an onslaught of female admirers as The Beatles became the biggest band in the world. As Alan Clayson writes in Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?, photos taken in social hotspots from the era show the drummer surrounded by female fans. Ringo always knew where his heart was, though, and spoke sweet words about Maureen:

“[She] knows the moment I face her what’s wrong and what to do about it, and I’m happy again in a minute.”

Ringo Starr’s sweet words about his first wife, Maureen

One could counter by saying it’s not a spouse’s or girlfriend’s job to make the other person happy. Yet one could also argue that finding emotional support in a partner is essential to a healthy relationship, and Ringo found that with Mo Cox. The marriage ended in divorce a decade after the 1965 wedding, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ringo said the sweetest thing about his wife and how she supported him.

The drummer remarried but remained close to Mo

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Ringo Starr Said His Love Life Got in the Way of His Music

The union between Ringo and Mo started falling apart just as The Beatles did. Ringo conducted affairs during the marriage; his wife responded in kind. Her dalliance with George Harrison effectively ended Ringo’s marriage.

Ringo and Mo divorced in 1975, but they maintained a relationship. After all, they had three children together. Both eventually found love again with new partners. John Lennon might have saved one of Ringo’s rebound relationships, and the drummer married Barbara Bach in 1981. Cox started a longtime relationship with business entrepreneur Isaac Tigrett in 1976 and married him in 1989.

Nearly 20 years had passed since their relationship ended, but Ringo sat at Cox’s bedside when she died from leukemia in 1994. Even though he didn’t mention her name in the song, Paul McCartney soon wrote a tune in Cox’s honor. The marriage didn’t stand the test of time, but that doesn’t change the fact Ringo Starr said the sweetest words about his first wife, Maureen.

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