Interview for MOJO

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“Look Up” is the twenty-first studio album by Ringo Starr, released on January 10, 2025. Embracing a country music style, the album showcases guest appearances by Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Lucius, and Larkin Poe. It also benefits from the writing and production talents of T-Bone Burnett.

In its March 2025 issue (published in January 2025), Mojo magazine devoted a six-page feature to Ringo Starr. The article included a short interview with Paul McCartney, who shared his thoughts on Ringo’s latest creative endeavor.

Ringo’s new album Look Up is a collection of country songs. What is it about his personality – and singing voice – that is so perfectly suited to country music?

Paul McCartney: He always loved country from the first minute I met him. He liked the old country singers like George Jones and people like that, and he was a big fan of that. So I think, you know, maybe, it suits his personality. He’s a very sincere, straightforward guy, and I think that’s the sort of theme behind a lot of country music.

Ringo was the perfect drummer for The Beatles. But why?

Impossible to say why – he just was.

When you first hit America, why do you think Ringo was so particularly endearing to the fans? And could you get behind the Ringo For President campaign?

Ringo for President? Yeah, absolutely! He would do a great job. President of what is the question?

When The Beatles split, Ringo immediately launched a solo music career and pursued a parallel film career. Was it clear that he wouldn’t just join another band as a drummer, that he had more strings to his bow?

Like all of us, he wanted to continue in music. And besides country music, he’s a big fan of old standards, so that’s why he did Sentimental Journey as his first album.

On the rare occasions you get together on-stage these days, do you find you both lock back into some long-practised groove?

Yeah, it’s just amazing, actually. It’s just, yep, it’s like wearing a very comfortable pair of shoes, if that’s the right metaphor.

You once described Ringo to MOJO as “a natural genius”. In what ways?

Many ways, actually. You know, he didn’t have a sort of heavy education, like a lot of people. So anything he knows is self-taught, most of it, he’s very clever that way. He picks things up and is very witty. And, above all else, he’s an amazing drummer who just knows how to do it. Simple as that.

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