Cynthia Lennon Only Met Ringo Starr After She Was Married to John — and They ‘Got Off on the Wrong Foot’
John Lennon’s ex-wife, Cynthia, described The Beatles’ drummer as one of the most “good-natured men alive.” Still, these two didn’t get off on the right foot when they first met — which wasn’t until John and Cynthia Lennon were already married. Here’s what we learned from the memoir John.
Cynthia Lennon wrote her first impressions of each of the Beatles members
Before becoming a chart-topping musician, John Lennon began a relationship with his college classmate Cynthia Lennon (then Cynthia Powell). In her 2005 memoir John, Cynthia Lennon detailed her first impressions of the would-be Beatles.
After meeting 16-year-old George Harrison, she described the guitarist as “the kid who tagged along.” She mentioned the differences between Paul McCartney and Lennon — and how that became their strength while songwriting.
In 1962, she married Lennon. Shortly after, she met the group’s new drummer named Richard Starkey, now known professionally as Ringo Starr.
“He’d joined the group five days before our wedding, and a few days afterward he came round to see John,” Cynthia Lennon wrote. “Although I’d seen him play many times with Rory Storm’s group we’d never spoken.”
Cynthia Lennon and The Beatles’ Ringo Starr ‘got off on the wrong foot’
Cynthia Lennon and Ringo Starr didn’t get along right away. This was mostly due to a misunderstanding, as noted in John.
“Unfortunately, we got off on the wrong foot,” Lennon added in the 2005 memoir. “I invited him to stay for supper and served up curry. I didn’t know that after a lot of childhood illness he couldn’t eat spicy food. He refused it and was very offhand, virtually ignoring me as he chatted to John.”
Although they were “wary” of each other for some time, they gradually “became good friends.”
“I discovered that he was one of the most kind-hearted, easy-going, and good-natured men alive,” she noted. “Even before I came to like him I knew he was right for the group.”
With Ringo Starr as the group’s official drummer, the artists released their first single — “Love Me Do.” They became one of the world’s biggest rock bands, with the drummer even writing “Octopus’s Garden” for Abbey Road.
Meanwhile, Cynthia and John Lennon had their first son, Julian, in 1963. However, the couple finalized their divorce in 1968.
Ringo Starr maintained his friendship with Cynthia Lennon even after the Beatles broke up
It was actually Ringo Starr who called Cynthia Lennon to tell her of John Lennon’s death. The couple had been separated for several years at that point — with John Lennon marrying artist and activist Yoko Ono.
Even after the Beatles broke up, Ringo Starr continued to make music, performing with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. In 2022, the drummer and songwriter released his third EP, complete with “Everyone and Everything” and its official music video, posted to YouTube.
