Ringo Starr of The Beatles Reveals How He Got His Stage Name: 'It Always Sounded Funny Though'

Ringo Starr always thought his stage name was funny when compared to his fellow Beatles bandmates. Read on to learn how the iconic musician found his stage name.

Written by Ipshita Chakraborty , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Jan 23, 2025 | 06:07 PM IST | 63.5K

Youtube / SiriusXM

Iconic Beatles drummer Ringo Starr recently spilled the beans on his relatively unique stage name. Born Richard Starkey, Starr reflected on how his stage name stood out amongst his bandmates, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison.

Sharing during an interview on SiriusXM's The Beatles Channel, the musician said his nickname was "Rings" due to his fondness for wearing rings, which eventually became his professional moniker.

Starr admitted that he had initially found his name, "Ringo Starr," to be a bit of a joke, especially when juxtaposed against the much more literal names of his bandmates: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison. The Here Comes the Sun joked, "I know, far out. It always sounded funny, though, John, Paul, George, Ringo."

He did share a rather amusing anecdote about how he got his iconic name. Starr remembered a time during his early efforts at songwriting as a teen when he had already played a few small-scale shows with a different band.

Starr recalled, "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."

"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," the singer said.

Although he was jokingly amusing for the first few days, Ringo Starr soon became legendary with his band.