Ringo Starr Has Something in Common With the Drummer He’d Love to Play With Again

There was a stark contrast between Ringo Starr’s Beatles career and his post-Fab Four work. He drummed exclusively with The Beatles once he joined the band. The timekeeper worked with dozens of musicians when the group folded (including all his former bandmates, even though he wrote a mean song aboutPaul McCartney), never more so than when he started performing with his All-Starr Band. Ringo said he’d call on one particular drummer he has something in common with if his frequent timekeeping partner ever leaves the All-Starr Band.

What Ringo Starr and Sheila E. have in common

They came up in different eras. They have different kit setups — his a basic bare-bones construction and hers (with Prince, at least) a galaxy of toms, cymbals, and bass drums. Their styles differ. But Ringo and Sheila E. have something in common — they’re both “backward” drummers.

The left-handed Ringo plays on a kit set up for righties. He always has. It’s what makes his Beatles drumming even more impressive. He keeps time on the snare with his left hand, but when it’s time to begin a fill, he has to move that hand under his right arm to get over to the toms and crash cymbals. 

As Sheila E. told the audience during a Guitar Center event, she learned to play by standing in front of her father, Santana collaborator Pete Escovedo. What he did with his right hand, she would do with her left hand. It might not have been the textbook technique, but it allowed her to develop a style no one could copy.

Just like Ringo, Sheila E.’s drumming is almost impossible to copy. At some point, the former Beatle and drumming pioneer and All-Starr Band leader hopes to play with his talented friend again.

Ringo Starr would love to work with Sheila E. again 

Ringo hasn’t been the only constant of the most recent iterations of his All-Starr Band. Fellow drummer Gregg Bissonette has been part of every tour since 2008. The former Beatle handles many of the vocal duties, but he and Bissonette — who played on several David Lee Roth (Van Halen) and Joe Satriani records — frequently play drums in tandem during All-Starr Band shows.

Bissonette is basically a sure thing when it comes to Ringo’s All-Starr Band. But if the seasoned drummer ever backs out of a tour, Ringo would reach out to another standout drummer.

“I’d probably call Sheila E!” Ringo told the San Diego Union Tribune.

Having Ringo and Sheila E. in the same band would flash back to the mid-2000s All-Starr Bands. She was a featured player on the 2001, 2003, and 2006 versions of the group. She was a guest performer in 2008 when Bissonette started his run as a mainstay.

Standout drummers such as Dave Grohl, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Stuart Copeland (The Police), Questlove, and session ace Jim Keltner (a featured player in the first All-Starr Band), sang Ringo’s praises when he entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist (see it via YouTube). Grohl called him a “f****** badass” for his “Come Together” beat alone. Yet Ringo named Sheila E. as the drummer he wants to play with again.

And it’s easy to see why.

The former drummer for Prince might not have the name recognition of some other timekeepers, but, like Ringo, Sheila E. is one of the steadiest drummers in the world. She has the chops (check out her solo during her Prince days on YouTube) to play straight-ahead rock, Latin beats, and elements of jazz playing (she did all three on her solo song “The Glamorous Life”).

Ringo’s close friends are more than willing to join his band. Joe Walsh was a member before they became brothers-in-law. Toto guitarist Steve Lukather is a frequent collaborator. If Bissonette takes an All-Starr Band break, Ringo Starr hopes to sit side-by-side with drumming star Sheila E. once again.

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