On the 1st July 2020, National treasure Sir Ringo Starr confirmed his plans to host and perform in an upcoming Livestream fundraising concert. Marking the living legend’s 80th birthday, Ringo’s Big Birthday Show is set to take place on 7th July 2020 and will be streamed live from Starr’s official YouTube channel at 5 pm PST.
Starr has recruited some of music’s generational giants for the benefit, including American musician Sheryl Crow, singer-songwriter Ben Harper, and none other than longtime friend and Beatles bandmate, Sir Paul McCartney.
The fundraiser will also include previously unseen performance footage of Ringo and Paul during the height of The Beatles era, as well as exclusive at-home performances from the stellar lineup. Famed for enlisting amazing lineups year after year, the 2019 ‘Peace and Love’ included David Lynch, Nils Lofgren and Benmont Tench.
Divided between four vital charities, donations from the Livestream fundraiser will be split between Black Lives Matter Global Network, WaterAid, The David Lynch Foundation, and MusiCares. Starr also showed his support towards the Black Lives Matter movement, recently writing on his official twitter page: “The Beatles always stood for equal rights and justice, and I’ve never stopped working for peace & love ever since. #BlackLivesMatter, #PeaceIsPossible, I send my peace love & continuous support to everyone marching and speaking up for justice & a better world”
This is not the first birthday gig the Beatles bandmate has hosted: for the past 12 years, Starr has orchestrated the world-famous ‘Peace and Love’ event in his adopted city of Los Angeles, California. Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, this year’s installment of ‘Peace and Love’ marks the first at-home Livestream of the famous celebration.
In the wake of his milestone birthday, the British superstar took to Instagram today with news of the Livestream fundraiser to 846,000 overjoyed followers. The post featured a video of Starr being photographed and posing with his classic peace signs stance. Starr was also displayed repping various ‘Peace and Love’ branded face masks, the video itself conveying colourful cartoon animations reminiscent of 1960’s psychedelia.
In the short video, Starr relayed his reasoning behind altering the 2020 installment of ‘Peace and Love’ to an at-home Livestream. Starr delivered a positive message about the event to fans worldwide: “At 12 noon, July 7th, 2020, you go ‘Peace and Love’. ‘Peace and Love’. That’s all I ask. Wherever you are; on a bus, down the mine, in a spaceship, in a rocket”
The already popular post was met with a delightful response from Starr’s giant Instagram following, receiving over 72,000 likes in just one day. The post was accompanied by the following caption: “Ringo’s Birthday Update! Ringo’s 80th birthday is just a week away! Join him in spreading a global wave of Peace & Love at noon your time on 7/7!”
What’s My Name, the 20th studio album and latest record from Ringo Starr, was released last year and is available on streaming platforms everywhere.
