Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey recently made a surprising admission about his relationship with the Beatles’ music. He shared his thoughts in an interview with Q104.3 New York.
The drummer revealed that he deliberately avoided listening to his father’s iconic band during his youth. He explained how the Beatles’ fame affected his own musical career.
“I’ll be honest. When I was a kid, The Beatles were in my way, if you see what I mean,” Starkey said. “I was in groups from a young really young age, and I was getting press attention, but they were only paying me attention and they weren’t paying the rest of the band attention. And I got bit resentful of this, and that sort of got me into a place where I sort of shunned The Beatles for a long time.”
Starkey’s perspective changed dramatically when he finally gave the band’s music a proper listen despite this initial resistance.
“A few people have said that’s why I have an identity of my own, you know,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, when I did listen to The Beatles, when I was about 25, it was like, ‘Wow, these guys are amazing! … I should have been listening to this forever.’ I’m glad I didn’t, you know, because I got into other things.”
The confession offers insight into the unique challenges faced by children of famous musicians in establishing their own artistic identities.
Starkey’s complex relationship with his father’s musical legacy extends beyond his childhood avoidance of Beatles music. Drummer World reported that Starkey has described feeling nervous and reverent when playing Beatles material live. He calls some of their songs “holy music” and expresses pressure to play them flawlessly during performances such as his recent set at Liverpool’s Cavern Club.
This reverence for the Beatles’ catalog reflects a mature understanding of their musical significance that came with age and experience. The drummer’s journey from resentment to appreciation mirrors the broader struggle many children of celebrities face when trying to establish their own professional identities separate from their famous parents.
Starkey is active in collaborative projects that connect to Beatles legacy through his co-founding of the supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos beyond his solo work. Relix noted that the group’s releases have featured contributions from other Beatles’ children and descendants, including Sean Ono Lennon and James McCartney.
The collaboration between the sons of Beatles members represents a new generation’s approach to honoring their fathers’ musical heritage while creating something distinctly their own. This creative partnership demonstrates how the next generation has found ways to embrace rather than reject their inherited musical legacy.
Starkey’s evolution from avoiding Beatles music to collaborating with fellow Beatles offspring illustrates the complex dynamics of musical inheritance. It shows the eventual reconciliation many artist children experience with their famous parents’ work.
