The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr met Maureen Cox in 1962. The couple started to get to know each other in the same week Starr became a Beatles member. The couple began dating soon after and decided to tie the knot in February 1965. Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein joined them on this day as their best man, while Starr’s stepfather Harry Graves and bandmate George Harrison were witnesses.
In the same year of their marriage, Ringo and Maureen welcomed their first child, Zak Richard Starkey. On August 19, 1967, their second son Jason was born, and on November 11, 1970, their daughter Lee Starkey opened her eyes to the world. Sadly, their love story didn’t end happily ever after. Due to Starr’s repeated affairs with other women, the couple got divorced in 1975. This divorce deeply affected Maureen and, thus, Lee Starkey.
Tragic Details About Lee Starkey’s Mother Maureen Starkey’s Life
Ringo Starr and Maureen Cox started dating in 1962. On January 20, 1965, the Beatles drummer proposed to Cox at the Ad Lib Club in London. The couple found out that Maureen, who was 18 at that time, was pregnant. They got married on February 11, 1965, at the Caxton Hall Register Office, London. Ringo and Maureen had a honeymoon for three days. Although she was the wife of the drummer of one of the most famous bands, the Beatles, Maureen didn’t like the spotlight.
The couple’s first two children were born during a period when Starr’s career was thriving. However, Lee Parkin Starkey’s birth in November 1970 coincided with the breakup of the Beatles’ and Starrs’ marriage. The drummer was struggling with alcoholism and having affairs with other women, and Maureen cheated on him with George Harrison.
Although they had serious issues like extramarital affairs, Maureen didn’t want this marriage to end. On July 17, 1975, they eventually got divorced after Starr’s affair with the model Nancy Lee Andrews. The drummer agreed to give Maureen custody of their children and provide financial support for them. However, Maureen fell into the pit of depression after the divorce, and she even attempted suicide by riding her motorbike into a brick wall.
A year after the divorce, Maureen started to live with Isaac Tigrett. The two married on May 27, 1989, and had one daughter. Sadly, Maureen got diagnosed with leukemia in 1994. Lee Starkey supported her mother while she was receiving treatment and looked after Maureen until her passing on December 30, 1994. Lee, Jason, Zakk, Maureen’s mother, Tigrett, and Starr were at her bedside when she left this world. Paul McCartney wrote his ‘Little Willow’ in Maureen’s memory.
Who Is Ringo And Maureen’s Daughter Lee Starkey?
So, Lee Starkey was the daughter of a woman who struggled a lot during her lifetime. Despite being the wife of a famous musician, Maureen didn’t enjoy a happy marriage or a wealthy life. Following her parents’ divorce, Lee stayed with her mother and developed a strong bond with her half-sister Augusta King Tigrett. When Ringo married Barbara Bach in 1981, Lee attended the wedding as a bridesmaid along with her new stepsister, Bach’s daughter Francesca Gregorini.
When she was young, Lee attended King Alfred’s School in Hampstead, London. However, she decided to leave school at 16 and worked at Tower Records for a brief time. Although Lee enrolled in drama and make-up artist school, she realized she didn’t want to be a make-up artist or a theatre player. So, Lee continued working in Tower Records and later started to work with her stepfather in Hard Rock Café.
Like her mother, Lee didn’t want to be under the spotlight as Ringo Starr’s daughter. She opened a boutique in London, but her mother asked her to come to the US. She then moved to LA in the early 1990s and opened a boutique with her friend. However, this wasn’t a successful business for her. Lee then moved into Maureen and Isaac’s house. Although Lee wanted to continue working as a fashion designer, Maureen’s leukemia diagnosis in 1994 caused her to put these plans on a shelf.
Lee left her career aside to take care of her mother, Maureen. Sadly, she passed away on December 30, 1994. Starr’s daughter was diagnosed with a rare-type brain tumor the following year when she collapsed in her father’s home. Lee then had surgery to remove the tumor and received radiation therapy. Unfortunately, she developed another tumor and continued her battle with cancer. As of now, Lee Starkey is fully recovered and living a happy life with her partner Jay Mehler and their three kids.
