'Beatles' star Ringo Starr opens up about his stage name

Ringo Starr is telling all about his stage name.

The English musician, whose real name is Richard Starkey, was recalling with SiriusXM how he was given his unique stage name while his other bandmates went as Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.

“Well, I don’t know if you could get a better name than Ringo Starr,” musician Rodney Crowell said to his guest, to which, Ringo agreed.

“I know far out,” Starr said. “It always sounded funny though, John, Paul, George, Ringo.”

The Here Comes the Sun singer also recalled how it came to be, not before he turned 20.

"I was in a band and then I was in with Rory [Storm] and we got a three-month gig in a holiday camp and I left the factory and that's when I went professional,” he said. “I was 20.”

“Before that I was going to work in the day and playing at night. Now I'm just a musician. And what was great, we all changed our name,” Starr said before sharing that one of his favourite accessories at the time helped to shape his identity.

He continued: “I mean, even in those days, I wore quite a few rings, which I don't wear now. And in Liverpool, it's like you get known. So people would start calling, ‘Hey Rings, what's going on?’ You know, that started to come about.”

Starr said “everyone in the band changed their name,” except for the late Storm, because he’d already previously done so.

“So I became Ringo and Ringo Starkey didn't sound rocking and so just, Ringo Starr. Yeah. And that's what many people know me [as] up to this day, including you,” he said.

Starr, 84, and McCartney, 82, recently reunited for the first time in five years for a performance on December 19, 2024 at London's O2 Arena.