Drumming News :
Sir Ringo Starr, the legendary former Beatles drummer, has announced his upcoming album, Long Long Road, and released its first single, “It’s Been Too Long,” featuring Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz. The 85-year-old musician said the 10-track record will include collaborations with Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings, and St. Vincent, and is set to arrive on April 24.
The album, co-written and produced by acclaimed American producer T Bone Burnett, follows Starr’s 2025 release Look Up, which earned him his first number-one solo album on the UK Official Country Chart. Starr reflected on his collaboration with Burnett, saying, “I’m blessed to have T Bone in my life right now and working with me on these records. After we did the last record, which I love listening to, this one just sort of happened… I’m calling it Long Long Road, because I’ve been on a long long road.”
Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, Long Long Road continues Starr’s exploration of country and Americana, with musical roots stretching back to his early influences, including guitarist Carl Perkins. Starr explained, “I recorded two Carl Perkins songs with The Beatles, and both T Bone and I wanted one on this record. He found this beautiful track I’d never heard before, ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore.’”
Burnett praised Starr as a musician of the “highest calibre” and described their collaboration as inspired by their shared love of Texas-style music. “I wrote him a Gene Autry type song because I always heard Ringo as a Texas artist, the way he played felt just like Texas music to me,” he said.
Many of the same musicians from Look Up return for this project, including Paul Franklin, David Mansfield, Dennis Crouch, Daniel Tashian, Rory Hoffman, Patrick Warren, and Colin Linden—a group Burnett affectionately calls The Texans, referencing both the music’s style and a band Starr played with in Liverpool in the late 1950s.
Following the album release, Starr will embark on a short North American tour, kicking off May 28 in Temecula, California, and concluding June 14 in Los Angeles.
Long Long Road promises to be a celebration of Starr’s enduring musical journey, blending classic influences, modern collaborations, and the storytelling flair of country and Americana.
Tracklist
Side One
- Returning Without Tears
- Baby Don’t Go
- I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore
- It’s Been Too Long
- Why
Side Two
- You and I (Wave of Love)
- My Baby Don’t Want Nothing
- Choose Love
- She’s Gone
- Long Long Road
The album is released on UMe, produced by T Bone Burnett, and co-produced by Daniel Tashian and Bruce Sugar.
Sources BBC / Rollingstone / RingoStarr.com
