Free Republic

Back in 2008, a journalist asked Ringo Starr what he wanted for his birthday. “Peace and love,” Starr replied. Ringo is so beloved that, these days, every July 7, social media is filled with “peace and love” tags for Ringo’s birthday. Ringo — one of the few “one name” celebrities — was 68 that year (he’s 82 now). He brings his still youthful stellar musicianship, along with his “All Starr” band, to Benaroya Hall for an Oct. 11 concert. (Starr tested positive for the coronavirus and had to cancel and reschedule several stops on his tour this week. As of...

originally appeared on album "The Tain".Horslips - Dearg Doom (1973) HQ | August 13, 2013 | lunarmountains

John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono on Tuesday marked the 40th anniversary of the legendary musician's shock murder with a call for gun control. "The death of a loved one is a hollowing experience," tweeted the 87-year-old artist, who still lives in the Dakota building in Manhattan outside of which her husband was shot four decades ago. "After 40 years, Sean, Julian and I still miss him. 'Imagine all the people living life in peace,'" she wrote, quoting the 1971 song she co-wrote with Lennon that became the best-selling single of his solo career. Ono, who witnessed her husband's murder at...

“As the week went on, The Beatles sort of pawed at the idea. If you gave them an idea, it was like throwing meat into a lion’s cage — they’d sniff and paw at it and throw it at each other, then that piece of meat came back in the end, but was different from what you put in the cage. “We were going to film it the day before, but the weather was too cloudy and too murky. This was London in January,” Michael Lindsay-Hogg recalls. “Then we decided for the next day, Thursday. We wanted to hit 12...

The Duke of Cambridge bestowed the honour on the Liverpool-born star at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. "It means a lot actually," the musician told the BBC. "It means recognition for the things we've done. I was really pleased to accept this." The honour comes 53 years after the Beatles were all awarded the MBE - and Starr said he had missed his bandmates' companionship this time round. "I was a bit shaky today on my own," he said. (SNIP) Asked whether he wanted to be known as Sir Ringo, the musician, whose real name is Richard Starkey, replied: "I...

Ringo Starr will perform two shows in Israel later this year in defiance of the anti-Israel BDS movement that calls for the complete isolation of the Jewish State. The former Beatle made the announcement on his personal website. It comes just a week after New Zealand singer Lorde cancelled her planned Tel Aviv concert after a vocal campaign by BDS activists. Ringo has chosen a band that includes fellow rock legends Steve Lukather of Toto, Greg Rollie of Journey and Graham Gouldman of 10cc as the All-Starrs. The two shows are booked for Tel Aviv’s Menorah Mivtahim Arena on June...

It's becoming more and more apparent that a new generational gap is forming. Whereas one generation didn't grow up with iPhones and high-speed internet, the newest generation sees these things as everyday commodities. It's natural for gaps like this to form, and with those gaps come plenty of hilarious consequences. With how quickly technology is advancing, these gaps show themselves more frequently nowadays. There are the usual complaints (like 'those darn kids never put their phones down'), but it's really the disconnect between the two generations that stings. For instance, it seems unimaginable that the younger generation doesn't know who...

British jihadis involved in the brutal beheading of American reporter James Foley callously boasted of making personal fortunes from ransoms paid for other released hostages, openly talked of making so much money they could retire to Kuwait or Qatar, The four Islamic State jihadis – nicknamed The Beatles by their Western captives – were reported to be ‘interested in money’ from the start. American hostages – especially Foley, whose brother was discovered to be serving in the US Air Force – were picked out for the most brutal beatings.

This week we interview author John Ringo. He has had several books on the New York Times best seller list and he has over two million books in print. Ringo’s specializes in military science fiction. The Hitchhiker asks… Question 1- After reading There Will Be Dragons I had a sense that Heinlein had influenced your writing. Are you a fan of his work? Very much so. Heinlein is the absolute sine qua non of science fiction authors. While I haven’t read all of his works, I’ve read most and he’s definitely my favorite SF author influencing both my writing and...

Ringo Starr looks at a photograph of his young self and laughs. ‘We didn’t know what was ahead of us. You never do. We didn’t think it would last.’ The black-and-white image shows the Beatles in suits in the early Sixties, waiting to appear on a television show. He’s not sure which one. Paul is whistling, George is distracted, John is wide-eyed and Ringo is staring at the camera, his feet up on a seat. In the picture (below) he looks the most assured, by far. ‘Even Paul thought, “Well, I’ll probably end up as a writer.” So did John....

While George is completely out of it, oddly enough, Ringo seems fine. Paul is buzzed, as well as John.

John Lennon caused a worldwide storm by claiming that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Now, more than four decades on, it seems his former bandmate Ringo Starr has acknowledged a humbler place in the grand scheme of things. The drummer says he has found God - after taking a long and winding road to enlightenment. He admitted he lost his way when he was younger, both as a Beatle experimenting with marijuana and LSD and afterwards when he suffered alcohol and cocaine problems in the late 1970s. But the musician, who has since become teetotal and quit his...

The Beatles' remain synonymous with Liverpool in most minds, the patron saints of Merseybeat. But out by the John Lennon airport, a civic hedge stands as a potent symbol of how scousers have fallen out of love with one of their own. A topiary sculpture of the fab four has been mischievously vandalised, with a crucial appendage having been chopped off under cover of darkness. Visitors arriving in the European Capital of Culture are now greeted by the sight of John, Paul, George and the headless drummer.

Sculpture Starr, who released his most recent album Liverpool 8 in January, recently completed a tour of the US and Canada. The musician currently divides his time between Los Angeles, the South of France and his UK home in Surrey. In April, a foliage sculpture of Starr outside a railway station in Liverpool was beheaded by vandals. The performer had reportedly angered some locals when he told the BBC's Jonathan Ross he missed nothing about the city.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has told fans to stop sending letters and requests for autographs, saying mail will be thrown away after October 20 because he has too much to do.

It’s been 37 years since Ringo Starr was a Beatle but he apparently hasn’t forgotten how to be a diva. Starr walked off the set of “Live with Regis and Kelly” yesterday rather than cut short one of his songs. Still, [Ringo's fellow rocker Dave] Stewart blasted the show for trying to force “Ringo’s musical legacy (to) take a back seat to additional banter about the size of Ms. Ripa’s derriere.”

Famed attorney Kenneth Starr filed a petition for the Juneau School District on Monday in the country's highest court to hear the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case. Starr, of the Los Angeles-based firm Kirkland & Ellis, filed the petition in the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the March 10 decision by the 9th Circuit Court, which ruled that former Juneau-Douglas High School principal Deborah Morse violated former student Joseph Frederick's free speech rights. Starr, the former independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, has taken on the case pro bono for Morse and the...

Aaaahhh... Lovely Rita hurricane Lovely Rita hurricane Lovely Rita hurricane Look at the Gulf between us Come to my aid and kindly fade away Listen to the frightened shrimpers Making little frightened whimpers Looking for a harbor where they can be saved Your whitecaps are running higher See the fear that you inspire You were once a warm little tropical storm Lovely Rita hurricane May I inquire discreetly (Lovely Rita) Would you refrain from dumping rain on me? (Lovely Rita, storm, ah) Rita! Finally got my windows boarded Gasoline and water hoarded Thought I maybe could be crazy and stay...

Was it the leader of the PLO who died... or the drummer for the Beatles?