Ringo Starr Announces Virtual, All-Star ‘Big Birthday Show’ For His 80th
The event will feature unique home performances and never-before-seen concert footage from Starr, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Sheryl Crow and others.
Ringo Starr has announced Ringo’s Big Birthday Show, an all-star charity broadcast to air on his YouTube channel on 7 July, his 80th birthday.
The event will feature unique home performances and never-before-seen concert footage from Starr, Paul McCartney and Joe Walsh as well as Gary Clark Jr, Sheryl Crow, Sheila E, Ben Harper and more. It will benefit four charities: Black Lives Matter Global Network, the David Lynch Foundation, Musicares and WaterAid.
“As everyone knows I love gathering with fans for peace and love on my birthday,” says Ringo. “But this year, I want everyone to be safe at home — so I called up a few friends and we put this Big Birthday Show together so we could still celebrate my birthday with you all, with some great music for some great charities. I hope you will all join me! Peace and Love, Ringo.”
In another attraction to the former Beatle’s millions of fans worldwide, the broadcast will also include the premiere of a guest star version of his song ‘Give More Love,’ created to benefit Musicares. It features a remarkable guest list including Jeff Bridges, Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnette, Elvis Costello, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Peter Frampton, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Keb Mo and Willie Nelson. The song was the title track of Ringo’s 2017 album.
An all-Starr cast
A playlist of unique tribute performances will also feature on Ringo’s YouTube channel. The line-up will include musicians who have previously recorded his songs, performances from previous birthday celebrations and some new versions which artists will post on their own social networks. The musical tributes include contributions from Ben Folds, Ben Dickey, Bettye LaVette, Colin Hay, Elvis Costello, Gregg Rolie, Judy Collins, Peter Frampton, Richard Marx, Steve Earle, Steve Lukather and many more.
Ringo’s annual birthday events began in 2008 at the Hard Rock Café in Chicago. In 2018 he marked their tenth anniversary at the Hard Rock Café in Nice. While he won’t be gathering with family, friends and fans at Capitol Records this year, the much-loved superstar is inviting everyone, everywhere to think, say or post #peaceandlove at noon their local time on 7 July.
At a virtual press conference held yesterday (30 June), Ringo said: “Usually we celebrate [and] the last couple of years, we’ve done it at the Capitol building here in LA and Hollywood. We have a stage with lots of bands playing musicians and a huge audience on the road outside and as a big brunch going on. So it’s like a quite a big thing and just before noon I go out and do the countdown with the audience, you know, like, three two one, peace and love. It’s my birthday, it’s noon, peace and love, and thanks for coming.
“I called a few friends”
“By February we were planning to do the whole thing all over again, a big party but because of the pandemic, of course, we had to think of something new to do. So what I did, I called a few friends…to either do something new or give me some footage from one of their shows. And so that’s how it’s working out. And I’ll be doing doing something with the All Starr band of last year.
“It was a big celebration and a lot of other people who’ve been in the All Starrs over the 30 years came and joined us onstage. So it’s really a cool end to the show. And that’s what we’re doing. So it’s a it’s going to be out on my birthday, and we hope you all watch it and what else can I say, it’s a birthday. You say it’s your birthday.”
Fans are already organizing online events around the world to fulfill Ringo’s birthday wish to send a wave of peace and love across the planet. Details will appear on Ringo’s Facebook page of events starting in New Zealand and ending in Hawaii.
In 2019 there were more than 30 Peace & Love events in countries all around the world including Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States, where events took place in Chicago, Minneapolis, Hawaii, Los Angeles and New York City.
Listen to the best of Ringo Starr on Apple Music and Spotify.
