Paul McCartney joins Ringo Starr for birthday bash

"Da da da da da dah da dat!" Macca joins Ringo for a rousing 'Birthday'
"Da da da da da dah da dat!" Macca joins Ringo for a rousing 'Birthday'

Paul McCartney surprised Ringo Starr last night (7 July) at New York's Radio City Music Hall, where the two former Beatles rocked with an absolutely jubilant version of the 'White Album' classic Birthday.

The song was appropriate, of course, as yesterday was Starr's 70th birthday.

Many in the crowd were unprepared for such a show-closing event. After the intended encore, which saw Ringo and his All Starr Band joined by Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Steve Van Zandt, AC/DC's Brian Johnson(!), Jeff Lynne, Nils Lofgren, Max Weinberg, Foreigner's Mick Jones and others for With A Little Help From My Friends, people had begun to file out.

But when a roadie appeared with a Hofner bass, the audience rushed back to their seats for the grandest of all finales.

And in case you missed it, check out MusicRadar's salute to Ringo Starr with a video guide to 14 of his greatest drum performances.

Joe Bosso

Joe is a freelance journalist who has, over the past few decades, interviewed hundreds of guitarists for Guitar WorldGuitar PlayerMusicRadar and Classic Rock. He is also a former editor of Guitar World, contributing writer for Guitar Aficionado and VP of A&R for Island Records. He’s an enthusiastic guitarist, but he’s nowhere near the likes of the people he interviews. Surprisingly, his skills are more suited to the drums. If you need a drummer for your Beatles tribute band, look him up.