Ringo Starr Met First Wife Maureen Starkey Tigrett When He Was With Another Woman
Ringo Starr married his first wife, Maureen Starkey Tigrett (originally Cox) in 1965. They were married for 10 years. Here’s the story of how they met.
Ringo was engaged to another woman before Maureen
Before Ringo got together with Maureen, he actually got engaged to a woman named Geraldine. Though, they eventually decided to break off the engagement. When Starr was with Geraldine, he became aware of Maureen Cox, who was going out with the Rory Storm (the band Ringo was in at the time) guitarist Johnny “Guitar.” But because they were both with other people at the time, Starr didn’t make a point to speak to her.
The day Ringo met Maureen
Back then, Maureen was an assistant hairdresser at a beauty salon called Ashley Du Pre’s. Ringo noticed her standing in a crowd of girls in front of the Cavern Club one day as he drove around in his new car, a used blue and cream Ford Zodiac.
“Maureen remembers the moment vividly and to this day remembers the car’s license plate number, NWM 466,” reads The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story of The Beatles by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. “Ringo parked the car out front and on his way into the club he smiled shyly at her. He asked if she was coming to the show the next night, and Maureen said she was. She had big, dark, sad eyes, and she was barely sixteen years old.”
Ringo asked her if she’d like to go out with him after the show. She told him she couldn’t since she had to be home by 11:50 P.M. and the show ended after 11. So the two decided their first date would take place in the afternoon.
Ringo and Maureen’s first date
The plan was for Ringo to pick Maureen up from the beauty salon she worked at. Maureen was so nervous when she came into work that day that her co-workers sent her out to the store to pick up a few things to help get her mind off the date. Ringo arrived before she was back. He awkwardly waited for her in the reception area while the patrons giggled and made eyes in his direction. When Maureen walked up the stairs to Ashley Du Pre’s she saw Ringo’s black ankle-boots before she saw him. “Oh my God,” she thought, according to TLYM. “This is really going to happen.”
The two had quite the agenda planned for their first date. First they went to the park, then to hear singer Frank Ifield, then to the movies for a double feature, then to a bar called Pink Parrot for drinks. They ended the night dancing at Allan Williams’ Blue Angel. Ringo had Maureen back home with exactly ten minutes to midnight.
If the length of the date was any indication, it went extremely well. Maureen and Ringo got along handsomely. They were well matched. After that first date, Maureen saw the Beatle exclusively, and to her knowledge, he only saw her as well.
