Ringo had appendicitis at age six, and after the appendectomy developed peritonitis which put him in a coma for some days and caused him to be in the hospital recovering for a year. Several years later he contracted tuberculosis and went back to the hospital for another two years.

He is also the third drummer to have appeared with Oasis. Other musicians and bands he has worked with include Johnny Marr, the Icicle Works, the Lightning Seeds, and the Semantics. Starkey is the son of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr.

The former Beatle is the father of three adult kids — Zak, 58, Jason, 56, and Lee, 53 — whom he welcomed with his late ex-wife Maureen Cox. The two were together from 1962 to 1975, but separated following Starr's affair with American model Nancy Lee Adams and Cox's affair with George Harrison.