Ringo Starr hails collaborator as a “great songwriter”
The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr is showing no signs of slowing down, and the musical icon is set to release his new EP, Crooked Boy, on April 26th.
For the project, Starr teamed up with songwriter Linda Perry, who was tasked with writing all four songs from the release, and also production duties. Both artists have mastered the art of collaboration throughout their respective careers, and over the last few years, they have brought their distinct set of talents together for Crooked Boy.
As a former member of The Beatles, Starr is capable of working with almost whoever he pleases, and it was he who initiated the partnership with Perry, who jumped at the opportunity to take care of the songwriting.
In celebration of the upcoming release, Starr and Perry appeared at Amoeba Music Hollywood in Los Angeles to speak to Chris Carter about Crooked Boy.
The duo first teamed up in 2021, when Perry penned ‘Coming Undone’ for Starr’s Change The World EP, and since then, their collaboration has grown strong. However, Crooked Boy marks the first project by Starr to be wholly written by Perry.
“Linda put the whole thing together. I’ll tell you that first,” Starr told the audience. The Beatles member then revealed how he first worked with Perry, stating that he felt “determined to work with people I hadn’t worked with before [on the EPs], and Linda was one of them.” He then profoundly described her as “the great songwriter.”
He elaborated on the development of Crooked Boy: “We called her, and I asked her has she got a track, and she said, ‘yeah,’ and then I called her, and she said, ‘yeah’. And then she said, ‘Why don’t you let me do an EP on you?’ And I said, ‘yeah.’ And she’s done a great job.”
For Perry, it was an honour to work with Starr, noting, “I was brought up with this incredible music of The Beatles. And I was brought up watching Ringo, and him always being my favourite, ’cause I thought he was the most charming and funniest one. And he is the most nice, charming, funny person, and filled with lots of love. A lot of love comes from this guy.”
Further heaping praise on Starr, she added, “The ‘peace and love’ is not just a gimmick. It’s really true, it’s genuine, it’s authentic. So, to get this opportunity was pretty fucking amazing.”
Writing songs for other artists can often be a relentless challenge, but this is not the case in this case, with Perry concluding, “It was easy to write music for Ringo Starr.”
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Disney+ announced plans to release a restored version of the lost Beatles documentary, Let It Be. Despite capturing a pivotal moment in Beatles history, Let It Be has largely been out of circulation since release, but on May 8th, it’ll be available to watch on Disney+.