Ringo Starr Was Drinking 16 Bottles of Wine a Day Before He Checked Himself Into Rehab
The ’80s were a tough time for Ringo Starr. After the Beatles split in 1970, Starr was finding his own way and went down a dark path. Of course, the famous drummer’s story has a happy ending. Today, he is 83 years young, sober, and fit as a fiddle.
Ringo Starr’s fuzzy ‘80s
After the Beatles broke up, Starr initially had some success. He had eight consecutive top 10 singles in the U.S. between 1971 and 1975, including “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Back Off Boogaloo.” Throughout the decade, he put out seven solo albums. But then came the ‘80s and things started to go downhill. He began drinking and using drugs in excess.
His 1983 album Old Wave didn’t chart, which is no coincidence.
“I got involved with a lot of different medications and you can listen to my records go downhill as the amount of medication went up,” said Starr, according to the New Zealand Herald.
What’s more, Starr has no memory of some of the coolest musical experiences he’s ever had.
“I’ve got photographs of me playing all over the world but I’ve absolutely no memory of it,” he said. “I played Washington with the Beach Boys – or so they tell me. But there’s only a photo to prove it.”
And it wasn’t just Starr. The drummer’s wife, Barbara Bach, was also struggling with addiction.
“We would sit around for hours and talk about what we were going to do, and of course I’d get so bleeding drunk I couldn’t move,” he said of him and his wife in 1989.
“Ringo said that since they married, virtually all they’ve done is sit in a room and use drugs,” a friend of the musician’s told the publication. “They were convinced they were gonna die unless they got help.”
Ringo Starr on what got him to rehab
Starr knew he was in trouble. There was a point when the drummer was consuming 16 bottles of wine a day.
“It’s a very funny thing with alcohol,” Starr told the San Diego Union Tribune in 1989. “When you’re a drunkard, you know you’re in trouble, but you procrastinate such a lot. You just put everything off ‘til tomorrow. And ‘tomorrow’ ends up to be years.”
Eventually, he and his wife checked into a rehabilitation center in Arizona to get some much-needed help.
“It just got so bad, the state we were both in, that we had to do something,” he said. “We felt like, ‘This can’t go on anymore; this is impossible to live (like this).’ I think God stepped in. I think a light went on, a dim light, that said, ‘Are you crazy?’ Then … it just got so crazy, so down and dumb, that three days later we were both in a clinic.”
The former Beatle is 83 and healthy as ever
That was 34 years ago. Today, Starr feels each day is a blessing. His brother-in-law Joe Walsh is happy to see Starr doing so well these days.
“Ringo is unaffected by success, really down to earth, a pleasure to be around and a good influence,” he told the Union-Tribune in 2016. “He’s well-grounded, and if something happens that I can’t really figure out, or don’t know what do, he’s a great friend to ask and receive advice from. He’s been through it all, so chances are he knows what to do — or at least knows what he did.”
Starr says his diet helps him to stay healthy.
“I watch what I eat, he said. “I’ve been vegetarian for the last 25 years. I was ‘veggie’ before, then I got off it and back on, and I’ve been vegetarian since 1992. I think it’s important and I’m always promoting proper eating.”
Additionally, he credits regular exercise as the reason for his energy and youthful glow at 83.
“And I go to the gym,” he said. “I have a trainer who comes to my home three times a week. And I (work out) myself. On tour, usually I go at least four mornings a week to the gym. So, I think you’ve just got to keep moving and eat right. I do the best I can.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
