ex-Beatles drummer Ringo Starr talks about his new 100% country album

Former Beatles drummer reinvents himself for his new album Look Upexpected this Friday, January 10, and swaps pop for country.

After six years of absence, Ringo Starr is back. For his new album Look Upscheduled for this Friday, January 10, the iconic Beatles drummer reinvents himself, abandoning British pop for a record of 11 100% country tracks.

Interviewed by BFMTV ahead of the release of this album, the 84-year-old artist indicates that this idea came to him by chance during a meeting in Los Angeles with the famous country producer T Bone Burnett.

“We were at the Sunset Marquis in Los Angeles and Olivia Harrison (widow of ex-Beatles George Harrison, editor’s note) was doing a reading of the book she wrote for George. There were about sixty people present and one one of them was T Bone, who I had seen several times in the past,” says Ringo Starr.

As the two men talk, Ringo Starr asks the producer to send him some tracks for his next album. “I loved them. So much so that I said to myself: ‘I’m going to change everything and do a country project,’” confides Ringo Starr. A total of nine T Bone titles were kept on Look Up.

The Beatles nominated for Grammys

To accompany the release of his new album, Ringo Starr, who recently joined on stage his Beatles sidekick Paul McCartney, has announced two concerts on January 14 and 15, 2025 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are also nominated for the Grammy Awards, the ceremony of which will be held on February 3, for the Beatles’ title, Now and Thenproduced by composed by John Lennon in 1978 and finalized by the two artists using artificial intelligence.

“It’s amazing that we’re nominated for two Grammys,” said Ringo Starr. “Peter Jackson managed, using AI, to extract John’s voice (Lennon, Editor’s note) from a cassette. We played the extract and it really looked like John was singing. It’s very moving .”

Nominated for the best song award, the Beatles will face Texas Hold’Em by Beyoncé, Not Like Us by Kendrick Lamar, Good Luck, Babe! by Chappel Roan, Birds of feather de Billie Eilish, 360 de Charlie XCX, Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter, and Fortnight by Taylor Swift with Post Malone.