Ringo Starr will release his next project, a country album titled ‘Look Up’, due out January 10, 2025.
Look Up, produced and co-written by T Bone Burnett, features 11 original songs and is Starr’s first new LP since 2019 — and his first country record in more than 50 years. Starr sang and played drums on all the songs and co-wrote the album’s closing track, “Thankful,” featuring Alison Krauss. Burnett enlisted some of Nashville’s best talent for the record, including Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, and Molly Tuttle.
Ringo said of the album: “I’ve always loved country music. And when I asked T Bone to write me a song, I didn’t even think at the time that it would be a country song – but of course it was, and it was so beautiful. I had been making EPs at the time and so I thought we would do a country EP -but when he brought me nine songs I knew we had to make an album! And I am so glad we did. I want to thank and send Peace & Love, to T Bone and all the great musicians who helped make this record. It was a joy making it and I hope it is a joy to listen to.”
Burnett adds: “I have loved Ringo Starr and his playing and his singing and his aesthetic for as long as I can (or care to) remember. He changed the way every drummer after him played, with his inventive approach to the instrument. And, he has always sung killer rockabilly, as well as being a heartbreaking ballad singer. To get to make this music with him was something like the realization of a 60-year dream I’ve been living. None of the work that I have done throughout a long life in music would have happened if not for him and his band. Among other things, this album is a way I can say thank you for all he has given me and us.”
Starr will bring this new music to Nashville when he headlines the famed Ryman Auditorium on January 14-15, 2025. The first track from Look Up, titled “Time On My Hands” is out now; take a listen: HERE.
Pre-order Look Up: HERE.
Editorial credit: Geoffrey Clowes / Shutterstock.com
