Fans of Ringo Starr are in for something truly special, as CBS has unveiled exclusive preview clips from the highly anticipated television special “Ringo & Friends at The Ryman”, set to air on Monday, March 10, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. This two-hour broadcast captures the vibrant spirit and energy of Starr’s country-inspired concerts, held on January 14 and 15 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The concerts served as the live debut of Ringo’s latest solo project, “Look Up” — a collection deeply rooted in country music influences. During these performances, the beloved Beatles drummer delivered new songs alongside reimagined versions of his solo hits and timeless Beatles classics, all infused with a fresh, country flavor. The shows also featured an impressive roster of guest artists, several of whom took the spotlight to perform songs famously connected to Ringo and The Beatles.

Among the standout moments previewed on CBS’s YouTube channel is a lively duet between Ringo Starr and Sheryl Crow, performing the 1971 favorite “It Don’t Come Easy”, beautifully complemented by harmonies from Mickey Guyton and Molly Tuttle. Another preview captures Jack White’s electrifying rendition of “Don’t Pass Me By” — a Beatles song written by Starr in 1968. Bluegrass virtuoso Billy Strings also brings his unique energy to Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”, a tune once famously covered by The Beatles in 1964.

Perhaps the most anticipated highlight of the special is the grand finale — a heartwarming performance of “With a Little Help from My Friends”. Ringo is joined by a stellar ensemble of musicians, creating a moving celebration of friendship, unity, and musical legacy. Other guest performers who graced the Ryman stage include Emmylou Harris, Jamey Johnson, Brenda Lee, Rodney Crowell, Sarah Jarosz, Larkin Poe, and The War and Treaty — each bringing their own touch of artistry to the night.

Beyond the on-stage magic, the special also offers viewers a more intimate side of Ringo Starr. Through exclusive interviews, he reflects on his lifelong affection for country music and its influence on his artistry — both as a Beatle and as a solo performer. Guest artists share their admiration for Starr’s creative impact and discuss how his music has inspired their own journeys.

“Ringo & Friends at The Ryman” is produced by the acclaimed T Bone Burnett, who also co-produced and co-wrote much of the material on “Look Up.” The special will be available to stream on Paramount+ following its CBS premiere.

Released on January 10, “Look Up” features 11 tracks showcasing a star-studded lineup of collaborators, including Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Lucius, and Larkin Poe. A standout cut, “Rosetta”, features a mesmerizing slide guitar solo by Joe Walsh — Eagles guitarist and Ringo’s brother-in-law. The album concludes with “Thankful,” co-written by Starr and his longtime engineer Bruce Sugar, and featuring guest vocals by bluegrass legend Alison Krauss.

Ringo Starr’s 2025 Tour Plans

After the excitement of the Ryman special, Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band are set to embark on a 2025 U.S. tour. The first leg begins on June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and continues through June 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Later in the year, Ringo will perform at the Bourbon & Beyond Festival in Louisville, Kentucky, on September 13, followed by a much-anticipated Las Vegas residency at The Venetian from September 17–27.

Tickets for the Las Vegas shows officially go on sale to the public on Friday, March 7, with pre-sale access already open. Fans looking to secure seats early can also find options through authorized ticket platforms such as StubHub.

With the release of “Ringo & Friends at The Ryman” and a full slate of live performances ahead, 2025 promises to be a remarkable year for fans of this legendary drummer. From Nashville to Las Vegas, audiences can look forward to celebrating the enduring joy, creativity, and timeless spirit of Ringo Starr.

As the crowd roared, Ringo took his place behind the drums, flashing his iconic peace sign before launching into “Yellow Submarine.” The opening notes instantly transported the audience to another time — a wave of nostalgia sweeping through the packed venue. Emmylou Harris’s ethereal harmonies intertwined with Sheryl Crow’s soulful tone, while Jack White’s fierce guitar riffs added a modern twist to the classic. The audience sang in unison, their voices rising in a joyful chorus that filled the Ryman with pure musical magic. When the final note faded, the standing ovation was immediate — an outpouring of cheers, whistles, and applause for a night that perfectly honored the legacy of one of music’s most beloved icons.

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HE WAS 5 YEARS OLD WHEN POLIO LEFT HIM PARTIALLY PARALYZED ON HIS LEFT SIDE. HE WAS 12 WHEN HIS FATHER WALKED OUT FOR ANOTHER WOMAN. HE WAS 21 WHEN HE COLLAPSED ONSTAGE FROM AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE AT A SUNSET STRIP RADIO FESTIVAL. AND HE WAS 59 WHEN A BLOOD VESSEL BURST IN HIS BRAIN AND HE WALKED HALF A BLOCK BEFORE THE BLOOD FILLED HIS SHOE — STILL HUMMING THE SONG HE’D JUST RECORDED IN NASHVILLE. He wasn’t supposed to make it. He was Neil Percival Young, born in Toronto in 1945. The son of a sportswriter who wandered, and a mother who never forgave him for it. Young contracted polio in the late summer of 1951 during the last major outbreak of the disease in Ontario, and as a result, became partially paralyzed on his left side. His brother later remembered him hanging onto furniture trying to cross the living room, asking out loud: I didn’t die, did I? By 12, his father was gone — chasing a younger woman. The divorce split the family literally in two: Neil went to Winnipeg with his mother, his brother stayed in Toronto with their father. By his teens, he had Type 1 diabetes, epilepsy, and a guitar he traded a banjo ukulele to get. By 1966, he was driving a black hearse down Sunset Boulevard with a band called Buffalo Springfield. By 1969, he was standing on stage at Woodstock with Crosby, Stills, and Nash. By 1972, “Heart of Gold” was the number one song in America. And underneath all of it — a man having seizures on stage, collapsing in front of audiences who thought it was part of the show. Then came 1978. He met a waitress named Pegi at a roadside diner near his California ranch. Married her. Had two children — a son named Ben, a daughter named Amber Jean. Doctors diagnosed Ben Young with cerebral palsy, which manifested in quadriplegia and the inability to speak. Amber Jean developed epilepsy. Neil already had a son from a previous relationship, Zeke — also born with cerebral palsy. Three children. Three diagnoses. One father who could not protect any of them from the bodies they were born into. He could have hidden. He could have written sad songs about it and stayed home. Instead, in 1986, Neil and Pegi founded the Bridge School — a place for children who couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t be reached by ordinary classrooms. He hosted a benefit concert every year for three decades. Springsteen came. Pearl Jam came. McCartney came. The kids in wheelchairs sat onstage behind them. Then came 2005. He was 59. A “piece of broken glass” floated across his vision one morning. An MRI revealed a brain aneurysm. He delayed surgery for a week to go record an album in Nashville called Prairie Wind — because he wasn’t sure he’d come back. “I made it half a block, and the thing burst on the street, and there was blood in my shoe and let’s just say there was a complication.” Emergency workers revived him on the sidewalk. Neil Young looked his own body dead in the eye and said: “No.” He kept writing. He kept touring. He kept showing up at the Bridge School every fall. He told audiences across America: “They told me I was finished. I’m just getting started.” Some men chase the spotlight until it kills them. The ones who matter learn to keep singing while the body falls apart underneath them. What he wrote on the back of a notebook the morning before that brain surgery in 2005 — the one he almost didn’t survive — tells you everything about who he really was.

HE WAS 20 MONTHS OLD WHEN A FIGHTER JET WENT DOWN OVER OKINAWA AND TOOK HIS FATHER WITH IT. HE WAS 22 WHEN HE WATCHED FOUR CLASSMATES GET SHOT ON THE LAWN AT KENT STATE. HE WAS 26 WHEN HIS THREE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER DIED IN A CAR CRASH ON THE WAY TO NURSERY SCHOOL. AND HE WAS 47 WHEN HE FINALLY ADMITTED THE BOTTLE WAS GOING TO KILL HIM TOO — IF HE DIDN’T LET A BEATLE PULL HIM OUT FIRST. He wasn’t supposed to make it. He was Joseph Fidler Walsh, born in Wichita, Kansas in 1947. The son of an Air Force flight instructor who taught young pilots how to fly America’s first operational jet — the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star. The boy whose father climbed into a cockpit one summer day in 1949, took off over Okinawa, and never came home. The toddler whose mother folded the flag and packed up the house because she had to. He grew up never knowing the man whose middle name he carried like a wound. By 5, he was being adopted by a stepfather and given a new last name. By 12, the family had moved to New York City. By high school, to Montclair, New Jersey, where he played oboe because the football coach said he was too small for tight end. By the time he got to Kent State, he’d attended schools in three different states and never stayed long enough to belong anywhere. Then came May 4, 1970. He was sitting on the lawn at Kent State when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on student protesters. Four kids his age died on the grass that day. He picked up a guitar and never put it back down. A power trio called the James Gang. A song called “Funk #49.” A guitar so loud Pete Townshend turned around. By 1971, Jimmy Page personally bought his ’59 Les Paul — the guitar that became known to the world as Page’s “Number One.” By 1973, he’d moved to Colorado, formed a band called Barnstorm, and written “Rocky Mountain Way” on a riding lawn mower because the riff wouldn’t leave him alone. Then came April 1, 1974. His three-year-old daughter Emma Kristen was riding to nursery school in Boulder when another vehicle struck the car. She didn’t survive. He wrote “Song for Emma” and placed a drinking fountain in the park where she used to play, with a small plaque nobody but the locals would ever notice. He named the album that came after her death “So What” — because nothing else mattered anymore. His marriage didn’t survive it. He started drinking before sunrise. He started using anything that would make the morning quieter. Then came 1975. The Eagles needed a new guitarist. The first album he made with them was called “Hotel California.” The solo he traded with Don Felder on the title track would later be voted the greatest guitar solo ever recorded. Twenty-six million copies sold in the U.S. alone. A Grammy. A Rock & Roll Hall of Fame seat waiting for him. And underneath all of it — every platinum record, every stadium — a man drinking himself slowly into the grave. By the late eighties, he couldn’t remember tours. By the early nineties, he couldn’t remember days. He checked into rehab. He checked back out. He checked in again. He went into rehab for the final time in 1995. He had to put his guitar down — possibly for good — in order to put his life back together. He didn’t think he’d ever play again. Addictionrecoveryebulletin The phone stopped ringing. The Eagles toured without him in everything but body. He sat in a house full of platinum records and couldn’t remember writing most of the songs on the walls. And then a Beatle showed up. Ringo Starr — nine years older, several years sober, and married to a woman whose sister Joe would eventually marry himself — sat down with him and stayed sat. Not as a rock star. As another drunk who’d put the bottle down and lived. Starr brought him back to music and became a sober buddy. Answer Addiction Joe Walsh made a vow to himself in front of an instrument he wasn’t sure he could still play. If I never write another song, that has to be okay. Sobriety comes first. He looked the bottle dead in the eye and said: “No.” One day. Then the next. Then a thousand more. “People tell me I play better now sober than I did before. But the only thing that matters to me now is that I can say I haven’t had a drink today.” Rolling Stone He recorded “Analog Man” in 2012 — his first album as a sober musician in his entire adult life. He started a charity called VetsAid for the children of fallen service members, because he had been one of those children. He told audiences across America: “They told me I was finished. I’m just getting started.” Some men chase the spotlight until it kills them. The ones who matter learn to set the bottle down before the spotlight does. What he said the night they handed him the highest humanitarian award in the recovery community — with his wife Marjorie standing behind him wiping tears, and his brother-in-law Ringo presenting the trophy — tells you everything about who he really was. He didn’t talk about the Grammys. He didn’t talk about Hotel California. He talked about the men an