Yesterday, Ringo Starr announced plans to celebrate his 80th birthday on Tuesday, July 7, with a concert special called Ringo’s Big Birthday Show featuring Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh and other stars that will stream on YouTube at 8 p.m. ET.

During a Zoom press conference, Ringo explained how the event came together after his annual public “Peace and Love” birthday gathering — which usually takes place at the Capitol Building in Los Angeles — had to be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“By February we were planning to do the whole thing all over again…a big party…but because of the pandemic…we had to think of something new to do,” Starr pointed out.

After first considering doing a virtual live concert using Zoom, Ringo said, “[W]e [eventually] decided that it’d be better to ask our friends to either do something new or give me some footage from one of their shows. So that’s how it’s working out now.”

Ringo revealed that he’ll be contributing a concert performance of The Beatles‘ “With a Little Help from My Friends” that he did last year with his All Starr Band.

“[I]t was a big celebration and a lot of other people who’d been in the All Starrs over the 30 years came and joined us onstage,” he explained. “So it’s really a cool end to the show.”

As previously reported, the Ringo’s Big Birthday Show lineup also include Sheryl Crow, Sheila E, Gary Clark Jr. and Ben Harper. The event will benefit four charities: Black Lives Matter Global Network, the David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares and WaterAid.

Also during the press conference, Ringo admitted he was disappointed that he can’t celebrate his milestone birthday as originally planned and that his 2020 tour with the All Starr Band was canceled.

By Matt Friedlander
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