It’s a case of better late than never for Ringo Starr, with the Beatles drummer finally in line to receive a knighthood.
It’s 20 years since fellow Beatle Paul McCartney received his own gong, but The Sun reports that Starr, whose real name is Richard Starkey, is overjoyed to be getting the honour, having received a letter from the palace informing him a few weeks ago.
McCartney was knighted in 1977, but John Lennon and George Harrison did not receive a similar honour and The Sun says Starr hasn’t personally been to Buckingham Palace since 1965 when all of the iconic band’s members were awarded an MBE.
Lennon gave his own MBE back in 1969 in a protest against the Vietnam War, and claimed that the band smoked marijuana in a palace toilet before getting their awards – something The Sun says Starr has always insisted he can’t remember.
The 77-year-old first started playing drums when he was 17 and joined the Beatles just five years later. But he never received as much artistic credit as Lennon and McCartney, who were the band’s chief songwriters and musicians.
But although Lennon is famously accused of joking about Starr’s lack of input – asked whether Starr was the best drummer in the world, Lennon is supposed to have replied that “he’s not even the best drummer in the Beatles” – that didn’t happen. A British comedian made the joke, which was subsequently attributed to Lennon.