Ringo Starr Announces Country Album 'Look Up'

Did you ever think you’d see Ringo Starr wearing a cowboy hat? Or releasing a country album?

Both of those things are happening, with the Beatle and Universal Music Group Nashville announcing the release of his new album.

On Friday, 10 January 2025, Ringo Starr will release his new country album, Look Up. You can listen to the first single, Time On My Hands, below.

Across eleven tracks, you can hear Starr working with producer and co-writer T Bone Burnett (Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Roy Orbison), songwriters Billy Swan and Bruce Sugar, as well as collaborating with country and roots artists including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, and Molly Tuttle.

A press release details Ringo Starr’s lifelong love of country music. With The Beatles, Starr offered the country twinge you can hear in songs like Act Naturally, What Goes On, and Don’t Pass Me By. In 1970, Starr released his second solo album, Beaucoups Of Blues, which ended up being a country album.

Look Up was born after Starr met with Burnett in Los Angeles in 2022 – the pair have known each other since the ‘70s – when Starr asked the producer to write a song for an EP he was working on.

Burnett returned to Starr with nine country-inspired songs, which couldn’t have made Starr happier. Look Up marks his return to country music after over 50 years and his first full-length album since 2019.

To celebrate his new music, Ringo Starr will perform at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Tuesday, 14, and Wednesday, 15 January 2025. Tickets will be available from Friday, 25 October. You can find more details about purchasing tickets here.

Starr said of the upcoming LP, “I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful.

“I had been making EPs at the time, so I thought we would do a country EP, but when he brought me nine songs, I knew we had to make an album! And I am so glad we did. I want to thank and send Peace & Love to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it, and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”

T Bone Burnett added, “I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember. He changed the way every drummer after him played with his inventive approach to the instrument. And he has always sung killer rockabilly, as well as being a heartbreaking ballad singer.

“To get to make this music with him was something like the realization of a 60-year dream I’ve been living. None of the work that I have done through a long life in music would have happened if not for him and his band. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”

You can pre-order/pre-save Look Up here.

Ringo Starr - Look Up Track List (writers)

1. Breathless (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)

2. Look Up (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)

3. Time On My Hands (Paul Kennerly, Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)

4. Never Let Me Go (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)

5. I Live For Your Love (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Billy Swan, T Bone Burnett)

6. Come Back (featuring Lucius) (T Bone Burnett)

7. Can You Hear Me Call (featuring Molly Tuttle) (T Bone Burnett)

8. Rosetta (featuring Billy Strings and Larkin Poe) (T Bone Burnett)

9. You Want Some (Billy Swan)

10. String Theory (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)

11. Thankful (featuring Alison Krauss) (Richard Starkey, Bruce Sugar)*

Produced by T Bone Burnett

Co-produced by Daniel Tashian and Bruce Sugar
*Thankful Produced by Ringo Starr and Bruce Sugar with T Bone Burnett