Keith Richards’ opinion on Ringo Starr

Keith Richards played for almost six decades alongside one of the greatest drummers of all time, Charlie Watts, who sadly passed away in 2021, ending his 58-year tenure with The Rolling Stones. Although he is a guitarist, Richards surely learned a lot from his late bandmate when it comes to drums and how important they are to a song. Over the decades, he has given his opinion on many drummers, including ones he disliked and others he liked. One of them was the legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr.

What is Keith Richards’ opinion on Ringo Starr

“Ringo, what a guy, what a steady backbeat, man,” Keith once said and he puts Starr in the same category as Charlie Watts, which in his opinion is quite different and better than John Bonham and Keith Moon’s style. He (Charlie Watts) had feel, he had intelligence. You’re talking to me about people like Bonham and Moon, they just like to hit things (laughs), and that’s the difference (between Charlie and them). (Ringo) is a great drummer, he can read a song. You see, that’s the other thing with your Bonhams and Moonies… I loved Moonie dearly as a person, as a drummer I’d kill him.”

“Because he was no bloody good, you know. He can’t swing, he can’t (do) any of (it). He can only do that (hit the drums). One or two tracks I did cut with him was an absolute disaster. But at the same time I loved the guy. As a drummer no. I mean, all he could do is drum for The Who, which is okay, I mean, as long as you stuck with The Who,” he said in an interview with Howard Stern in 2023 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

In 2023, there was a rumor that Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr would be part of the new Rolling Stones album “Hackney Diamonds”, but only McCartney’s involvement was eventually confirmed. Ringo did not play on the band’s latest albums. According to Keith Richards, the relationship between The Beatles and The Rolling Stones has always been good and there was never a rivalry between the two bands.

Keith Richards said:

“John was a particular good friend of mine. Stories that cannot be told (laughs). George was a lovely guy, we got Paul (a great songwriter) and Ringo, what a guy, what a steady (beat). They came to see us play, we were playing in a pub, at Station Hotel in Richmond, that was our gig.”

“It was the only one we really had and everybody was having a good time. I turn around and there is, these four guys in black leather overcoats standing there. This was soon after ‘Love Me Do’. I mean this was really early on and this is early 60s. From then on we’re always good mates. When George’s new single (was ready) we always made sure we didn’t clash, because in those days was like every two months you had to have a new single.”

He continued:

“We would collaborate with each other. So we didn’t go head to head, because otherwise it seemed like ‘you’re either Beatles or Stones’, bullshit. And we are so similar, that’s not true. We all recognized that and it was one of the great things about it. I mean, between the two bands there was never any sense of competition, (it) was cooperation,” Keith Richards said in ‘Ask Keith‘ (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Ringo also confirmed that once saying: “Oh, that was in your head (he tells the journalist), ok? Not even yours, what are you, 21? That’s just something they cooked up, there was no big battle between us and the Stones, no. And Charlie is a good friend, please. I went to see him in Monaco, he had his boogie band there and I saw him when he first came up with his big band, there was a man who’s happy,” he told Artisan News in 2012.

As Ringo said, he and Charlie were really good friends and big fans of each other. After Watts passed away, he praised him during a press conference, saying: “He was a beautiful human being. He was like The Quiet Man… Me and Charlie, we hung out. It’s not like we lived together, we lived close in London, or we’d find ourselves at dinner or a gig.”

The main difference between the Stones and The Beatles according to Richards

Richards has previously listed The Beatles as one of the greatest bands of all time and is a fan of their music. Although The Rolling Stones are much more Blues oriented, Richards believes there is another key difference between the two bands. In his opinion, The Beatles were also a vocal group because all four members could sing, while The Stones really had one lead vocalist, with Keith occasionally singing a song or two as the lead singer.

Paul McCartney recalled that Richards once told him. “I talked to Keith Richards recently… well, a couple of years ago. His take on it was: ‘Man, you were lucky. You guys, you had four lead singers,’ whereas the Rolling Stones only had one.’ I could sing, John could sing, George could sing and Ringo did numbers that he could sing. So, it wasn’t just the front man and the back-up band. We were an entity. Mick used to call us the Four-Headed Monster. We would show up at places all dressed the same,” he said in an interview with BBC in 2011.