Ringo Starr Makes His Grand Ole Opry Debut
Like many people of my generation, I was introduced to The Beatles at a young age. It wasn’t until my Uncle let me borrow his box set of their entire catalog though that I truly understood what a phenomenon these four men were. We had an 11 hour car ride back to my hometown and I listened, chronologically, to every single song. Before the younger readers ask, this pre-dated smart phones and Netflix so listening to music and sleeping were pretty much my only options on road trips. If you’ve never listened to The Beatles chronologically before, I highly recommend it (if you have the time because even after 11 hours, I still wasn’t done!) The way in which John, Paul, Ringo, and George grew and evolved together as artists and musicians is palpable in each album. You also start to become familiar with each person’s musical style. While Ringo only wrote two songs for The Beatles (Octopus’s Garden, and Don’t Pass Me By,) he also sang lead on 11 songs for them. With the exception of “Good Night” from “The White Album,” all of those songs he sang on could easily cross over to the Country Music genre as-is. So, when his latest album release”Look Up”was announced as a Country album, it made complete sense to this Beatle Maniac!
Which brings us to last Friday evening, February 21st, 2025. The Grand Ole Opry is notoriously historic, let’s start there. As the longest running radio show in history, each show cements itself as a “once-in-a-lifetime-experience.” What made last Friday so special was the fact that Ringo Starr made his debut, making the circle on the front of the stage even more special. The 4400+ people in that room were buzzing with anticipation as WSM announcer, Mike Terry introduced the brand new member of the country music community and when Ringo walked out to a standing ovation, it was like being transported back to February 9th, 1964, when The Beatles made their debut on Ed Sullivan.
It was clear that the other performers on the lineup were also fans because almost everyone performed their own version of a Beatles song. Riders in The Sky, rather than sing a Beatles tune, stuck to their Western Swing roots with a nod to the guest of honor by singing the classic Western gun-slinging tune “Ringo (Battle of a Gunfighter.)” Rhonda Vincent put her own bluegrass twist on “Help,” Mandy Barnette dazzled with a beautiful rendition of “In My Life,” Molly Tuttle, who is heavily featured on Ringo’s new album, told a story about the first time she heard a Beatles tune in Kindergarten and performed that very song, “Octopus’s Garden” alongside Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor. Then right before Ringo came on, Mickey Guyton showed us all why she’s currently blowing up on the country scene (finally in this author’s opinion) and performed a beautiful rendition of “You Don’t Know Me,” written by Ringo Starr.
Then the moment came. The moment we had all been waiting for. Ringo Starr walked out on to the Opry stage, wearing a white cowboy hat (which he promptly discarded after hitting the microphone with it while greeting the audience.) Molly Tuttle and Ketch Secor returned to the stage to join the newly minted country singer while he started his debut with a song from his new album “Time on My Hands.” He then, performed a country cover he had originally released in 1965 with The Beatles, Buck Owens’ “Act Naturally,” which had everyone singing and swaying along with his signature dance moves. As Ringo’s set came to an end, almost everyone who had performed that evening (and some bonus Opry stars including a surprise Ricky Skaggs appearance,) joined him on stage to sing ‘With a Little Help From My Friends.” The audience was up dancing, singing, and clapping along as the megastar sang his mega-hit.
While every night at the Opry is special and unique, this one felt momentous. If you’ve ever been at the Opry when a debut is being made, you know how big of a deal that is for that artist. As someone who’s seen a few debuts and felt the emotion coming from the stage, I can vouch for how it feels to be in the audience (and of course manifesting the day when I get to be the one on that stage!) To see someone who’s already had arguably the biggest career anyone could possibly have, continue to reinvent themselves and still have “firsts” like this one is indescribably awesome.
The Opry turns 100 this year, Ringo Starr gave us new music in a new(ish) genre, and both iconically collided together on Friday evening. To be there, felt like being a part of history. Now that Ringo is in the country music community, here’s hoping we get more iconic collaborations in the future.