Ringo Starr’s Son Said He Spent More Time With His Dad’s Famous Friend Than With Starr 

Ringo Starr’s son grew up to be a drummer like him. According to him, though, the inspiration for his career path didn’t necessarily come from his famous father. Zak Starkey, Starr’s eldest son, said he spent more time with Keith Moon than his father. This led to a level of resentment that he held toward his father.

The Beatles drummer was good friends with Keith Moon 

One of Starr’s closest friends was another astronomically named drummer. Moon was a member of The Who, and though he once asked to join The Beatles, the two musicians became incredibly close.

“[Moon’s] interaction with Ringo was incredibly intimate,” Starr’s longtime girlfriend, Nancy Andrews, said, per the book Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr. “I’ve noticed over the years that drummers have a shorthand language, and they don’t need to complete sentences to convey their thoughts. Ringo and Keith could say two or three words to each other and there would be an instant understanding.”

Moon died in 1978, and Starr mourned the loss of his greatest friend.

“My best friend was Keith,” he told Rolling Stone in 1978. “Moonie was the madman … It’s all a part of life, which makes absolutely no sense.”

Ringo Starr’s son said he spent more time with Keith Moon than his dad

Starr spent much of his time with Moon, and so did his son. Starkey explained that his father was rarely around, so but Moon was often there. 

“To be perfectly honest, being Ringo’s son is the biggest drag in my life,” Starkey said as a teenager. “I’m always written about as Ringo’s son, always classed in with him in every single thing I do … And if I do get successful, I don’t want to live like my old man, on a big estate and all that. My old man was never there. During my puberty, Moonie was always there with me while my old man was far away in Monte Carlo or somewhere.”

Because of this, Starkey grew close with Moon. 

“Keith was like an uncle, really,” he told Modern Drummer. “He was one of my dad’s best friends. When my brother, sister, and I used to stay with my dad there, we would occasionally spend a few days at Keith’s house. Keith was the babysitter. We would just hang out and talk about anything, really — girls, surfing, bands, drums. He was a really fantastic guy to hang out with.”

Ringo Starr’s son says he has a good relationship with his father these days

As Starkey got older, he gained a new appreciation for his father. He was no longer tired of being compared to him. 

“It doesn’t get tiring,” he told Modern Drummer in 2007. “I kind of rebelled against it when I was a teenager; I said some pretty stupid things.”

He also gained a new appreciation for Starr’s drumming, something he had previously knocked.

“I’ll be honest, it’s great being Ringo’s son,” he said. “He’s the greatest living drummer as far as I’m concerned.”