Ringo Starr is Back with a Brand New Album...and it's Country.
Well, it's safe to say we did not have this one on our 2025 bingo... or should we say our "Ringo" card.
But more often than not, the most unexpected surprises turn out to be the best ones. This is arguably the case for Ringo Starr's brand-new country album, Look Up, which dropped today and is chock full of some of Americana's best and brightest stars heard right here on 100.9 The Creek.
Produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett, the project is the legendary Beatle's first country album in more than 50 years and his first full-length album since 2019. It was recorded last year in Nashville and Los Angeles and features 11 songs, nine of which were written or co-written by Burnett. Starr sang and played drums on all the songs and co-wrote the album’s closer, “Thankful,” which features Grammy-winner Alison Krauss. Burnett enlisted some of Nashville’s finest and hottest talent for the record, including Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, Molly Tuttle, and the aforementioned Krauss. Acclaimed musicians Dennis Crouch, Paul Franklin, Daniel Tashian, Joe Walsh, and more also played on the album.
The official music video for the title track was also released today. It features Starr singing in the sunshine interwoven with images of people from all walks of life gathering in a field and ultimately, as seen in shots from above, forming a human peace sign. Director Wyndham Garnett was inspired by the song’s prescient lyrics and Starr’s dedication to spreading peace and love:
No matter where you place/In the human race/There is mercy/There is grace/Look Up
Up above your head/Where the music plays/There's a light that shines/In the darkest days/Look up//Live to fight another day/Good things are gonna come your way.
The video abounds with positivity and stands as a beacon of hope as we head into this New Year.
Starr’s lifelong love of country music has been apparent and celebrated throughout his illustrious career. He performed and wrote numerous country and country-tinged songs throughout his years with The Beatles (i.e. “Act Naturally,” “What Goes On,” “Don’t Pass Me By”) as well as with the earlier Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, and recorded a country album, Beaucoups of Blues, in 1970 as his second solo album. His love of Country and the Blues led him to try and emigrate from London to Texas while still a teen, after reading that Lightnin’ Hopkins lived in Houston.
See? We always knew there was something extra special about him.
The legend's new album comes after a chance meeting with Burnett at an event in Los Angeles in 2022 (the two had first met in the 1970s), where Starr asked Burnett to write a song for an EP he was recording. Taking the task to heart, Burnett returned with nine songs, all in a country vein, which happily put Starr on a path to record Look Up.
Give Starr's newest project a listen HERE, and prepare for what Variety is calling, “one of the most-anticipated albums of 2025."
Other outlets are also giving the album two thumbs up, with MOJO calling it "some of Starr's best vocal performances" and the Wall Street Journal's Barry Mazor hailing it as a "surprising, revealing delight, notably different from anything he's done before…..I venture that many around the world will be thankful for this charming…return to a genre for which he’s always had a knack and affection."
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Track List: Look Up (Written by)
- Breathless (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Percussion, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Lead Acoustic Guitar, Harmony Vocal;
Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- Look Up (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Woodblock; T Bone Burnett – 6 String Bass, Electric Guitar
- Time On My Hands (Paul Kennerly, Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, 6 String Bass, Piano; Andy Cata – Piano; T Bone Burnett – 6 String Bass; David Mansfield – String Arrangement
- Never Let Me Go (featuring Billy Strings) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Electric Guitar, Guitars, Harmony Vocal; Mickey Raphael – Harmonica; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Electric Guitar; T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- I Live For Your Love (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Billy Swan, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Acoustic Guitar, Mandolin, Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel; Mike Rojas – Piano; Dennis Crouch - Bass
- Come Back (featuring Lucius) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Whistling, Lead Vocal; Lucious (Jess Wolfe, Holly Laessig) – Background Vocals; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Colin Linden – Resonator Guitar; Stuart Duncan – Mandolin, Fiddle; Rory Hoffman, T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar
- Can You Hear Me Call (featuring Molly Tuttle) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Molly Tuttle – Acoustic Guitar, Duet Vocal; Dennis Crouch – Bass; T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- Rosetta (featuring Billy Strings and Larkin Poe) (T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Billy Strings – Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Rebecca Lovell – Mandolin, Background Vocals; Megan Lovell – Background Vocals; Joe Walsh – Slide Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; T Bone Burnett – Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
- You Want Some (Billy Swan)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Mike Rojas – Piano; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Rory Hoffman – Clarinet; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- String Theory (featuring Molly Tuttle) (Daniel Tashian, T Bone Burnett)
Ringo Starr – Drums, Harmony Vocals; Molly Tuttle – 12 String Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Rebecca Lovell, Megan Lovell – Background Vocals; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Daniel Tashian – Acoustic Guitar, 12 String Lead Guitar T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
- Thankful (featuring Alison Krauss) (Richard Starkey, Bruce Sugar)*
Ringo Starr – Drums, Lead Vocal; Alison Krauss – Harmony Vocal; Daniel Tashian – Electric Guitar, Harmony Vocal; Paul Franklin – Pedal Steel Guitar; Dennis Crouch – Bass; Greg Leisz – Acoustic Guitar; T Bone Burnett – Electric Guitar
Produced by T Bone Burnett
Co-Produced by Daniel Tashian and Bruce Sugar
* “Thankful” Produced by Ringo Starr and Bruce Sugar with T Bone Burnett
