Ringo Starr Announces All-Starr Band Tour Dates In Support Of 'Ringo 2012'

His days of drumming for The Beatles are long behind him, but Ringo Starr has adopted a new hobby over the past two decades: Bringing musicians together and going on tour with them.

Starr has announced the lineup and summer tour dates for this year's All Starr Band, which will feature Todd Rundgren, Gregg Rolie (of Santana fame), Steve Lukather (Toto), Richard Page (Mr. Mister), saxophonist Mark Rivera and drummer Gregg Bissonette.

The tour, in support of Starr's new album Ringo 2012, will begin on June 14 in Niagara Falls and end on July 21 in Los Angeles.

Although fellow former Beatles member Paul McCartney's album Kisses On The Bottom hit stores on Tuesday, Starr insists their solo careers are hardly competitive.

"In all honesty, we had dinner just after Christmas together and I didn't know he had [an album] coming out," Starr told Spinner. "I didn't know that it was going to come out within weeks of each other. No, there's no rivalry. Paul is Paul, Ringo is Ringo and this is what we do. We don't phone each other and say, 'You can't bring your record out because I've got one!' We live our lives, we make our music and pick a release date. This is the date we picked and that's just how it is."

McCartney, for his part, is booked to perform for the Queen of England on a ticket that includes Elton John, Tom Jones and many more high profile acts.

For more on Starr's New All Starr Band, click over to Rolling Stone.

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Comments

[HollisHoHo]

07:32 AM on 02/10/2012

I've seen Ringo & His All Star Band several times & enjoyed every second...so did the audience(s)!

[another looker]

10:02 PM on 02/09/2012

Gregg Rolie is better known for being a member of Journey. He played the keys through the Departure/Captured tour in 1980.

[LMPE]

08:00 PM on 02/09/2012

You rock!

[mmsuki]

03:35 PM on 02/09/2012

The best part of this story to me was that Ringo and Paul still get together for dinner.

[Kierzek]

12:16 PM on 02/09/2012

Ringo's best Beatle drumming was on "Rain". He was not a star drummer but, that is not what the Beatles needed. As for today, as long as he is having fun and people want to see him and the others, I say, let it be. As with all stars, hopefully Ringo will retire at the right time before being an embarrassment.

[Sonya Parker]

06:06 AM on 02/09/2012

I've seen this man perform live, if you can call his barely-animated figure "alive". He is, without exception, the absolute worst rock drummer in the world. Ironically, he is also one of the luckiest men in the world. Maximum reward for minimal effort.

[wrwjr57]

08:45 AM on 02/09/2012

Totally agree.

[Papi-Chullo]

11:33 AM on 02/09/2012

from SONYA PARKER
"Maximum reward for minimal effort."

papi-chullo
your statement above above, is the true sign, of a ZEN MASTER...............

GO RINGO - ZEN MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hdohighdesertobserver]

01:24 AM on 02/09/2012

I wonder what dinner is like with a couple of war horses like Paul and Ringo. Wow.

One of my favorite moments in Scorsese's 'Living in a Material World': "I've got the keys." "Well, I've got the wheel." Oh, my!

[Papi-Chullo]

11:35 AM on 02/09/2012

we'll I would guess dinner with Paul and Ringo would NOT lack this.......... abundant stories, of FINE wine, women and song.

[JenniferWest]

12:23 PM on 02/09/2012

Material world was great. Learned a lot about George!

[shergenius]

12:42 AM on 02/09/2012

It brings back such great memories of them .. How can you forget. Those were the wonder years.. I wonder wonder wonder ha ha

[johnny8612]

12:06 AM on 02/09/2012

Sang alot of Beatles songs at Karaokee and some Ringo songs along with Johns songs ,Pauls and Georges seperately...

[Stan Osborn]

11:56 PM on 02/08/2012

I saw Gregg Rolie recently at a local club - I was stunned when he started his show with Republican Tea-Party rhetoric! Completely unnecessary way to start a show. He lost CD sales from me, that's for sure.

[Mr Hoodoo]

10:45 AM on 02/09/2012

Rolie? Baggerbrained?!?

Oh man, that would be a shame.

[Cullugridis]

07:13 AM on 03/15/2012

It would be a shame.. but ultimately he's just a guy who plays bass which doesn't inform his politics or opinions..though it is hard to believe that the emotional intelligence that makes one a great player of music doesn't prevent one from being politically unempathic or tone deaf.

[Cullugridis]

07:14 AM on 03/15/2012

oops.. craig rolie is a keyboardist!!! well hey.. california is a home of liberalism AND conservatism...

[SantaMonican]

11:19 PM on 02/08/2012

How about next years Super Bowl?- Rock legends, that play instruments, and don't lip sync.

[Papi-Chullo]

11:36 AM on 02/09/2012

might start a trend.... }:]

[David L Kelso]

10:19 PM on 02/08/2012

Ringo and his band always deliver a solid show. Also, I always thought his drumming on 'Strawberry Fields" was used as a model for most of the drumming on Jimi Hendrix's first couple of albums.

[Michael Menege]

10:42 PM on 02/08/2012

I love Ringo, but let's not go overboard. 'Are You Experienced' was recorded in 1966 and 1967 and was released a month before 'Sgt. Pepper'. If you recall, the day 'Sgt. Pepper' was released, the Beatles went to Brian Epstein's Saville Theater to see the Jimi Hendrix Experience...and were pleased to hear him open with 'Sgt. Pepper'!

[Stephen Thorpe]

11:10 PM on 02/08/2012

I heard a recording of the show. It's okay, but it's in Hendrix style. Not even a good cover really.
The Beatles just liked and were friends with Jimmy. Flattered that he learned the song and covered it so fast.

[David L Kelso]

12:59 AM on 02/09/2012

As I recall, "Strawberry Fields Forever" was released in Feb. '67 and the "Are You Experienced" album in May '67 in England, but any influence on the drumming is pure supposition on my part because I've never heard anyone suggest a connection. By the way, check out Beatles video on Vimeo.com >INSCET INFESTATION... Great fun.

[CojoinednessBrasserie]

07:51 AM on 02/09/2012

with all due respect and as a Beatles fan myself... are you saying that Mitch Mitchell whose drumming was light years ahead of what just about any of the well known British invasion drummers besides Keith Moon was doing at that point was influenced by Strawberry Fields which was released about 3 months before Hendrix & the Experience DEMOLISHED the audience at Monterey and after the band had already recorded Are You Experienced? The same band that performed a killer LIVE version of Sgt. Pepper's in front of messrs Lennon & McCartney 3 days after the album was released in June of 1967? No.. Ringo's drumming on Strawberry Fields was simple straightforward and solid.. but neither innovative nor skillful. Rather Ringo's drumbeat on Hello Goodbye quotes DIRECTLY from Mitch Mitchell's drumming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp9V3D3ufn4 I love Ringo and a lot of the work he did. Like a lot of his generation he lived through a turbulent time and survived as best he could but when you consider the drummers active in that era.. Buddy Rich, BJ Wilson, Keith Moon, Louis Bellson, John Bonham, Ginger Baker.. the list could go on for days..you'd have to put Ringo's accomplishments in perspective.

[davesf]

12:24 PM on 02/09/2012

Mitch Mitchell told me in 1981 when we had drinks a Gretch sponsored event that he thought the world of Ringo's drumming. And you're wrong - The drumming on Strawberry Fields is spectacular. Want to surprise yourself with how great he actually was? Listen to the 'Help' album. All the drummers you mentioned are great, and I'm a fan of all of them, but Ringo, while not being especially concerned about chops, is absolutely in their class.

[David L Kelso]

04:16 PM on 02/09/2012

A good analysis. Not enough discussion about drummers in my opinion. There needs to be more familiarlization with historically influencial drummers like buddy Rich, for example. I recommend Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert Dec '37 as a good starting point.

[booboo111]

10:04 PM on 02/08/2012

I was snookered into seeing him and his band on the last tour. Take my word for it. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

[Stephen Thorpe]

11:12 PM on 02/08/2012

Now, if it's McCartney, your saying WOW! Can we get tickets for the second nights show?!

[Sonya Parker]

06:09 AM on 02/09/2012

I agree with you. The other musicians are much more solid than Starr. He sucked the energy out of the set - it was like they were pulling him along. Painful to watch.

[HADAFAKAYA]

09:53 PM on 02/08/2012

Peace and Love. The music of Peace and Love is alive and must be played. Long live Ringo!

[Ricardo01]

09:33 PM on 02/08/2012

Ringo's all stars are always a great show. He knows what being in a band is all about.

[lastmanstanding99]

09:51 PM on 02/08/2012

Really? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAU0l7325w0

[sticks n stones]

01:18 PM on 02/09/2012

So you think being in a band is all about signing autographs?

[countj62]

10:04 PM on 02/08/2012

I alway's wanted to meet him in person.

[johnny8612]

12:10 AM on 02/09/2012

It dont come easy though,,GL.