Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who once made another rock star forget how to talk, performs in 2019.

Music

The Time Ringo Starr Made 1 Rock Legend Forget How to Talk

Ringo Starr’s powerful personality and long-held fame made another rockstar forget how to talk when he met the drummer.

by Jason Rossi

Published on November 19, 2022

3 min read

Ringo Starr remained humble in the face of fame

Ringo always found a way to remain humble even as The Beatles shot to superstardom.

At a time when he was the most famous drummer on earth, influencing countless young musicians, he (wrongly) claimed he was no good as a drummer. Paul McCartney and George Harrison weren’t very welcoming to Yoko Ono when John Lennon brought her into the fold. The drummer, on the other hand, had a pure Ringo reaction — he was gracious, accepting, and didn’t rush to judgment.

Stories like that are why one musician called Ringo the most approachable Beatle. The former Richard Starkey might be approachable and lacking pretense, but another rockstar forgot how to talk when he tried to strike up a conversation with Ringo.

Iggy Pop forgot how to speak when he tried talking to Ringo

Former Stooges frontman Iggy Pop might not be on Ringo’s level of fame, but he’s been a rockstar since the 1960s, too. Still, Pop was almost lost for words — nearly starstruck — when he tried to talk to Ringo, as he revealed during an Audacy interview (via YouTube).

According to Pop, both musicians participated in a charity event that progressed smoothly. Yet when Pop tried asking Ringo a question during a concert, he forgot how to talk.

“We’re in this little club, and I was just sitting there. I didn’t have anything to say. There was a lull between the tunes, so I asked him, ‘Hey, so how do you like living in Monaco?’ [Pop incorrectly pronounced it Muh-NAH-Co], and of course, I know it’s Monaco and not Monaco, but I was nervous. So he said, ‘It’s Monaco, man. And you know, it was boring, nothing for Barbara to do, so we moved to LA.’ I thought later, ‘Why the f—-, why was I starstruck?’ But I was, and I don’t get that way, you know.”

Iggy Pop discusses how he forgot to talk when he met Ringo Starr

If Ringo’s unassuming presence is enough to make a rockstar like Pop forget how to talk, then his star power must be off the charts.

Pop revealed how big a Beatles fan he was as a teenager

Iggy Pop forgot how to talk when he met Ringo, which makes sense. Pop revealed to Aucacy that Ringo and The Beatles were some of his earliest musical loves as a teenager.

“Ringo’s mythic. I was a teenager when their records came out, and I used to sit in the kitchen with a big radio, waiting — I had to listen to the entire top 40 to wait for the one song,” Pop said. “I would get a little teenage orgasm. Not literally, but this thrill through my body listening to that group originally.”

Ringo Starr made Iggy Pop forget how to talk (or at least properly pronounce Monaco) when the Stooges singer tried to start a conversation, which makes sense. Pop is a lifelong Beatles fan, so we’re not going to judge him for being starstruck and overcome with emotion when meeting one of his idols.