Ringo Starr cancels rest of US tour after coming down with cold

Ringo Starr has cancelled the remaining shows of his US tour due to illness.

The former Beatles drummer has come down with a cold and was forced to miss his concert in Philadelphia on Tuesday (24.09.24) and has also axed the Radio City Music Hall gig in New York City on Wednesday night (25.09.24).

A social media statement read: “Ringo has come down with a cold and after consulting a doctor he was advised to cancel these two remaining shows and get rest.

“As always, Ringo and the All Starrs send peace and love to their fans and hope to see them soon.”

Refunds are being given to fans who had tickets for the two cancelled dates.

The 84-year-old musician and his All Starr Band kicked off the run on September 7 and played 10 shows in the States, with Ringo last onstage on September 22 in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Ringo released the EP ‘Crooked Boy’ in April – which features the Strokes’ guitarist Nick Valensi – and he explained how he asked songwriter and producer Linda Perry to pen more upbeat songs for the project.

He told Variety: “Even on ‘February Sky,’ it was all about the dark sky everywhere in February, so that’s an emotion in there. But I told her, ‘There’s gotta be a crack — a break in the sky — and the sun is coming out.’ Because all my songs have that. They can be ‘I’m down, I’m this, I’m that… But things are getting better, things are going up.’ They always have a positive upside.

“‘Rewind Forward’ [the title song of his previous EP, from 2023] was like that. ‘Rewind forward’ meant, sometimes you’re in a mood, and if you just backtrack a little and then find that (previous) space, and then carry on from that moment, it helps sometimes.”

Ringo also requested more rock songs.

He added: “I did. (At first) she wrote ‘Crooked Boy,’ and it was all about the story of my life — you know, I was ill, I was better, I found my own way.

“She sent me a couple of them, and then I called her and I said, ‘Linda, write me a rock song!’ And she says, ‘What’s that?’ I said, ‘I’ll leave it there. Just write me a rock song.’ And she did, of course, and it’s called ‘Gonna Need Need Someone’. And it did rock, and she put the band together, and then we did a video with the song playing and we are popping in and out.”