Ringo Starr Says The Beatles Would Have Made Less Albums Had It Not Been for ‘Workaholic’ Paul McCartney

The Beatles drummer opened up about his relationship with his bandmates in a new interview with AXS

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. PHOTO: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES

Ringo Starr can’t help but credit Paul McCartney’s work ethic for The Beatles’ success.

In a new interview for AXS with Dan Rather, the drummer, now 83, opened up about how the “Say Say Say” musician, now 81, was responsible for how prolific the band was — and how despite their differences at times, the work always came first.

“No no, we didn’t get along. We were four guys, we had rows. It never got in the way of the music no matter how bad the row was. Once the count in, we all gave our best. And that was a little later, too, which I think it was a natural thing, you know,” said Starr of how things shifted as The Beatles’ career progressed.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr in Los Angeles in January 2014. KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES

He added: “Suddenly, we’ve got lives and I’ve got children and you know, the effort that we put in cause we worked really hard was starting to pale a little and we always thank Paul to this day.”

Starr credits McCartney’s “workaholic” nature for the band’s success.

“Because of Paul, who was the workaholic of our band, we made a lot more records than John and I would’ve made,” the “Photograph” performer said. “We liked to sit around a little more and then Paul would call ‘Alright lads’, and we’d go in.”

Starr also discussed how grateful he was that his bandmates had each other to keep their egos in check.

“I think it’s all part of where we came from. I always give credit that there was four of us all from the same city and we would look at each other, you know one of us would be freaking out or being a big shot and three other people would go ‘Excuse me’ and that kept us straight,” he said.

The rocker continued: “You know it’s interesting because the time we met Elvis, I really thought ‘How sad that he’s on his own’. He had all those people around but he was on his own. I had three great mates.”

Ringo Starr in Los Angeles in July 2019.SCOTT DUDELSON/GETTY

In February, Starr shared a video update on X (formerly known as Twitter) about his recording progress, revealing that he was “gonna do a country EP, but as things are unfolding, it’s probably going to be like a real CD—ten tracks.”

Starr last released a full-length album in 2019 with What’s My Name, however he’s dropped five EPs and several singles in the past five years.

His most recent EP —Crooked Boy — was released last month.