Ringo Starr Received Death Threats After John Lennon’s Murder

After John Lennon’s death in 1980, Ringo Starr and the rest of The Beatles were left reeling. Starr immediately flew to New York to support Yoko Ono. Some of the fans outside Lennon’s apartment building disgusted him with their behavior, but he soon grew concerned for his own safety. Starr began receiving death threats shortly after Lennon’s murder. He had received threats on his life before, but these were particularly troubling. Starr explained that he no longer felt safe while visiting the United States.

The former Beatle died in 1980

In Dec. 1980, Lennon and Ono were walking outside their apartment building in New York City. A fan, Mark David Chapman, had been waiting outside the building all day and had even asked Lennon for his autograph that afternoon. When he saw the couple that night, he shot Lennon multiple times. 

Police officers on the scene rushed Lennon to the hospital in the back of their vehicle, worried they didn’t have time to wait for an ambulance. Doctors attempted to resuscitate him, but they were unsuccessful. They pronounced him dead on the night of Dec. 8. 

Ringo Starr said he got death threats after John Lennon died

When Starr heard the news of Lennon’s death, he flew to New York to be with Ono. Mourning fans had already gathered outside Lennon’s apartment building, and Starr found the crowd overwhelming.

“On the day John was killed I flew from LA to New York to be with Yoko,” Starr said, per the book The Beatles: The Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies. “I was given two bodyguards, and there were two of Yoko’s supposed to be looking after me, but in that huge block, we lost all the bodyguards. I ended up getting lost and walking out into the street by the wrong door on my own.”

In the aftermath, Starr grew concerned about his safety. He’d faced chaos and death threats in his years with The Beatles, but they seemed more worrisome after Lennon’s murder.

“Afterwards, I did have several threats on my own life, and I had to have guards living with me,” he said. “I hated it. I always felt safe in America until John was shot. But you can’t go on living in fear. If the President himself can’t stay properly protected, what chance do other people have? They even got the Pope.”

Ringo Starr received death threats while touring with The Beatles

When Starr received death threats during The Beatles’ touring days, he nervously hoped for the best during shows. After an anti-Semitic group threatened his life ahead of a show in Montreal, the band hired extra security but went ahead with the concert.

“I had the cymbals up towards the audience to give me a bit of protection; usually I had them flat on,” Starr said, per The Beatles Anthology. “I also had a plain-clothes policeman sitting there with me. But I started to get hysterical, because I thought, ‘If someone in the audience has a pop at me, what is this guy going to do? Is he going to catch the bullet?’ I found this was getting funnier and funnier all the time, and the guy just sat there.”