The life of a drummer is not easy. After all, while all the other band members attract the spotlight and are in front of the stage, the drummer is the forgotten star sitting in the back. It seems like Billy Idol understood from a young age that the life of a drummer wasn’t for him, thanks to Ringo Starr, as the singer revealed to BBC Radio 4.
Even though all the Beatles are appreciated, we might argue that Ringo didn’t receive the same amount of spotlight as John Lennon and Paul McCartney did as the co-frontmen of the band. Idol was aware of this fact as he revealed that upon seeing the Beatles, the singer wanted to be like John and Paul rather than be Ringo.
“I didn’t ever have guitar lessons,” Idol said, recalling the early days of his career. “I just taught myself. It really was just a way for me to have something to sing to. I did try to learn the drums at one point, but then I soon realized Ringo was at the back, you know? John and Paul were at the front of the Beatles, so maybe it’s better to write the song and play guitar, you know?”
So, when Idol was deciding what he wanted as a performer, the dynamics of the Beatles helped him realize who he wanted to be as an artist. Billy Idol chose to front his act rather than play the drums and sit in the back. So, in a way, Ringo convinced him not to be a drummer but to be like Lennon and McCartney, standing at the front of the stage.
Drummers often stay in the back rather than performing at the center with their other bandmates. For instance, the Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts hated the life of a drummer and blamed Led Zeppelin for that, so don’t forget to check out the funny reason why Watts hated his fellow drummer John Bonham.
