John Lennon Never Said Ringo Starr Wasn’t the Best Drummer in The Beatles
For millions of music fans of all ages, The Beatles are without a doubt rock’s most influential group. The band, comprised of John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, broke boundaries and created bold new sounds that reverberate to this day. Behind the scenes, members of the band didn’t always get along – and this occasional tension led to a long-standing myth that Lennon once discredited Starr’s drumming skills. As it turns out, however, this rumor just doesn’t hold water, with internet sleuths figuring out that Lennon never actually made the remark in the first place.
John Lennon is often credited with making a joke at Ringo Starr’s expense
The Beatles were made up of four very distinct, bold personalities. Lennon quickly earned a reputation as a singer with no qualms about speaking his mind. His quick, sly wit meant that he often ended up in the headlines during the Beatles’ tenure as a band and when they broke up. One of the most famous quotes often attributed to Lennon was related to Starr’s drumming skills.
As the story goes, Lennon was once asked by an unnamed journalist/TV host, ‘is Ringo Starr the best drummer in the world?’ and Lennon responded with the barb, ‘He isn’t even the best drummer in The Beatles.’ According to Radio X, many fans have widely assumed that Lennon made the joke, since it sounds like something he would say – but in reality, there’s no actual evidence that Lennon ever said this about Starr in the first place.
Who actually made the joke about Ringo Starr’s drumming skills?
As reported by Far Out Magazine, although the quote is usually attributed to Lennon (and sometimes even McCartney) it first started circulating when the British comedian Jasper Carrott was appearing in the BBC show Carrott’s Lib. The comedian reportedly first made the remark around 1983, well after the Beatles broke up. Even still, Carrott probably wasn’t the first one to make that joke. Radio X reports that an old Radio 4 comedy series called Radio Active had the “Ringo isn’t the best drummer” joke as far back as 1981, before Carrott introduced it to pop culture.
Writer Geoffrey Perkins, who worked on shows like Spitting Image, Have I Got News For You, and Father Ted, is the one who wrote the line. He passed away in 2008 – but he certainly lived long enough to see the line he wrote go down in pop culture history.
Paul McCartney filled in for Ringo Starr when he took a break from The Beatles
Historians might have debunked that Lennon ever disparaged Starr’s drumming skills, but hardcore Beatles fans always had a hard time swallowing that Lennon would have ever said that about his bandmate. After all, as noted by Radio X, Starr was almost universally beloved by his bandmates, even during times of extreme duress and tension within the group’s ranks. Additionally, the joke goes under the assumption that fans know there was another drummer in the Beatles. This would be McCartney himself, who filled in for Starr on a couple of occasions, most notably in 1968, when Starr temporarily quit the band.
Ultimately, Starr would work with both Harrison and Lennon after the Beatles split up, proving that there were no hard feelings between the old friends and former bandmates. These days, Starr is not only considered to be one of the most influential rock drummers in the world but an important part of the very fabric of pop culture as well.
