

We said no, we play to people, people are people. All our heroes are from Ray Charles to Lightnin’ Hopkins. “And we did refuse to play in Mississippi. The Beatles were noted for refusing to play to segregated audiences.


So that’s my story.”Ĭutting to the present, Ringo was asked about the escalation of racial issues since the death of George Floyd.

It was just a couple of them we didn’t love (laughs). Though it didn’t mean we didn’t still love the people in the Philippines. But we got on the plane and were off to the next round. Anyway, we left back to the airport with one motorbike and we did get pushed around.
Beatles ringo starr tv#
Someone with the TV camera going past these kids being miserable because we didn’t turn up. They showed pictures of all the children. We put the TV on in the morning and it was like, what the hell’s going on? They didn’t like us. We came with 25 outriders getting us to the hotel. The Beatles were kicked, pummeled, pushed, abused and cursed, chased to their plane seats and given indelible memories of Filipino hospitality.” 3, 2018, a PDI editorial looked back at that incident: “Claiming to be incensed at the way the Fab Four had ‘offended’ the sensibilities of the First Family, particularly Imelda Marcos and her children, when they allegedly snubbed an invitation to join the Marcoses and their friends at a get-together in Malacañang, ‘concerned citizens’ lined up all along the exit route of the world-famous band and inflicted physical punishment on them. The group refused to go to Imelda’s event. The concert promoter apparently did not tell the Beatles that he promised then First Lady Imelda Marcos that they would show up in a reception at the Malacañang Palace. Read also: Paul McCartney says The Beatles refused to play for a segregated audience in 1964 In early July 1966, the band’s two concerts in one day were enthusiastically received by thousands of screaming fans. I asked right away a question to finally clear the matter about the Beatles’ unfortunate experience in Manila. He also wore a necklace with a peace sign pendant. His dark short hair gave him a youthful look.īehind him in a corner of his Los Angeles home were walls decorated with a black guitar with white stars, a flag emblazoned with Trojan Jamaica, the reggae label, and further behind, a wall with prints of faces, including what looked like George Harrison’s.Ī few minutes before noon, Ringo appeared again on my screen, with the most disarming smile and giving us the peace sign. Wearing a short-sleeved black polo shirt with white palm prints, the bearded man who was born as Richard Henry Parkin Starkey Jr. In the few minutes that he stayed and then promised to return at noon, the Beatle, who is known for his happy-go-lucky personality, was easygoing and charismatic as we engaged in small talk. He thought the interview was at 11:30 in the morning. In this recent video call, the man who was considered the Beatles’ heart and soul suddenly showed up on my laptop screen, half an hour early. He ended up playing drums for the greatest band in rock history, alongside Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison. In that instant, Ringo decided that it was the only thing he wanted to do in life-to be a drummer. Lying in a hospital bed, the 13-year-old was given a little drum by a music teacher. He suffered from appendicitis, then a ruptured appendix, pleurisy, food allergies and tuberculosis. There was also the matter of Ringo being sickly as a child.
