Ringo Starr Finally Found the Perfect ‘Spiritual Situation’ in His 50s
Whether he meant to or not, Ringo Starr often came across as the most easy-going of The Beatles. That might be why he played on many of the best solo Fab Four songs that featured former bandmates. Yet much of that work came in his 20s and 30s. Ringo found easygoing peace in a spiritual situation once he reached his 50s, and it makes sense it took that long.
Ringo Starr said skiing is a ‘spiritual situation’
He grew up in soccer-obsessed England, spent time living in temperate Monaco, and now resides in Los Angeles’ mild climate. Still, Ringo has a passion for skiing.
The drummer joined his Beatles bandmates and meditated with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India in early 1968. In his book Postcards From the Boys, Ringo said he found a spiritual situation on the slopes decades later:
“I love skiing. I didn’t start until I was 50, and now I’m up and down any mountain you can throw me on. We go every year to Colorado. It’s just the best there is. You’re in the mountains, and everything’s white — it’s a spiritual situation just to be up there. Some days the mountain’s really quiet and there’s not a lot of traffic. I’ve had several really incredible moments from just being up there.”
Ringo Starr describes his love for skiing
Ringo found peace on the mountains in middle age, and it all makes sense when you look at his life.
It’s not unusual that Ringo found peace from skiing
Ringo said skiing proved to be a peaceful spiritual situation when he was 50. When you view his life as a whole, it makes sense it took that long.
He grew up relatively poor in Liverpool in the 1940s and 50s. Ringo’s family couldn’t afford to hit continental Europe’s famous slopes; even a winter trip to the Pennines in northern England was out of the question.
When he joined The Beatles, Ringo favored tropical holidays — a vacation to Spain in 1963 and a Mediterranean trip on Peter Sellers’ yacht that helped him write a hit song in 1968. He wrote that he “went to Barbados like a hundred times” in Postcards From the Boys. He survived a near-death experience during a Mexican vacation in the 1970s.
Let’s not forget that for much of the 1960s and 1970s, Ringo was too busy making music and movies to look for spiritual satisfaction. The former Richard Starkey wasn’t ready to find peace while at the height of his fame.
He turned 50 in 1990, which coincided with one significant life change — Ringo found sobriety. The drummer said he was angry for 20 years when The Beatles broke up. He coped by drinking heavily. Ringo found clarity and finally heard his inner voice speaking the truth about addiction once he quit drinking in 1988. He and his Beatles bandmates filmed part of Help! on a ski slope, but Ringo wasn’t prepared to find the spiritual side of skiing until much later.
Plus, as Ringo wrote, skiing provides a peaceful, often quiet way to commune with nature. For a Liverpool-born lad who lived in moderate climates and often vacationed in paradise, hitting the snow-covered mountains provided a massive departure from the norm.
He had mental clarity in a beautiful setting. It’s not shocking that Ringo said skiing was a spiritual situation for him.
The drummer is a fan of other sports
He finds inner peace by hitting the slopes as often as possible, and Ringo enjoys watching other sports. The longtime country music fan became a passionate Dallas Cowboys fan during one of his many formative trips to the United States. The drummer adopted Alabama as his college football team somewhere along the way, per Fox Sports.
Ringo and The Beatles had a famous photo shoot with heavyweight Muhammad Ali. The drummer filmed the movie Candy with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. And the Fab Four played in several baseball stadiums during their later tours of the U.S.
Ringo Starr said skiing presented a spiritual situation for him once he took up the sport in his 50s. By then, he had left the rock star lifestyle behind, embraced sobriety, and found the life balance that helped him find peace on the slopes.
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