Ringo Starr Said Paul McCartney ‘Likes to Think He’s the Only’ Beatle

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney have been the only two living Beatles for over 20 years. The former bandmates have maintained a friendly relationship in the years since The Beatles broke up. Starr once pointed out the fact that McCartney seemed to think of himself as the only member of The Beatles, though. He was comfortable joking about this with his bandmate.

Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are the 2 surviving members of The Beatles

Starr joined The Beatles in 1962, finalizing the band’s iconic lineup. They announced their breakup in 1970 and, despite each having successful solo ventures, have never been able to shake off their public reputation as a Beatle. 

These days, McCartney and Starr are the two surviving members of the band. John Lennon died in 1980 after a fan shot him outside his apartment building in New York City. In 2001, George Harrison died of cancer.

The drummer said his bandmate likes to think of himself as the last Beatle

Starr likes to avoid talking about The Beatles, but he admitted it’s nearly impossible. Questions about the band always come up in interviews, including ones about how he gets along with his former bandmate, McCartney. Starr sometimes uses this question as an opportunity to get in a jab about McCartney.

“We are as close as we want to be,” he told The Daily Mail in 2011. “We’re the only two remaining Beatles, although he likes to think he’s the only one.”

Though it may sound as though Starr was upset with McCartney, they’ve joked about this together. In a sketch for the nonprofit Comic Relief, McCartney told a group of celebrities that he should be the one to film an appeal.

“You all know that the only person round this table who can go is me,” he said. “I was in the biggest rock’ n’ roll band in the history of music … I am the last remaining Beatle.”

Everyone appeared to agree with him until Starr spoke up, saying, “What about me?” He admitted that he was happy to appear in the sketch.

“I thought it was a great sketch; it worked really well,” he said, adding, “I did my bit in Los Angeles, where I live half the time. I just sat in a hotel with a camera.”

Ringo Starr shared what his relationship with Paul McCartney is like

Starr said that he and McCartney stay in contact and see each other when they’re able, and McCartney considers Starr family.

“It’s family,” McCartney told Rolling Stone. “Sometimes we get pissed off at each other. I’ll want something from him and he won’t give it to me, and I’ll get pissed off. But then it passes. Brothers fight sometimes. There’s this revisionist history that it was all John and Paul. But it was four corners of a square; it wouldn’t have worked without one of the sides. Ringo was the right angle.”