'I Sort of Shunned The Beatles': Zak Starkey Reveals Why He Avoided His Father's Legendary Band

Shunning The Beatles seems like almost an impossible task, especially given how inescapable their music, history, and cultural presence have been since the 1960s. Yet Zak Starkey, the son of Ringo Starr, recently admitted he deliberately avoided listening to the Fab Four until he was well into his twenties.

During an interview with Q1043 New York, the 60-year-old Starkey, who is an exceptionally talented drummer in his own right (having played with the likes of The Who, Oasis, and Johnny Marr, among others), offered up this surprising revelation.

"I'll be honest, when I was a kid, The Beatles were in my way," Starkey said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). "I was in groups from a really young age, and I was getting press attention, but they were only paying me attention, and they weren't paying the rest of the band attention."  "And I got a bit resentful of this. And that sort of got me into a place where I sort of shunned The Beatles, for a long time. A few people say that's why I have an identity of my own."

But as previously mentioned, finding his own identity on the drum kit proved exceptionally beneficial, leading to a gig with The Who from 1996 through 2025. A band which he was unceremoniously booted from in May 2025, on the eve of their latest "farewell tour", for reasons he is still not exactly sure of.   

Eventually, Starkey did relent and gave a proper listen to his father's former band. And as expected, he was downright impressed with what he heard.  "But at the end of the day, when I did listen to The Beatles, I was about 25. I was like, 'Wow! These guys were amazing. Wow, I should have been listening to this forever.' But I'm glad I didn't, because I got into other things."

While he did grow to appreciate The Beatles, he's still not as big a fanatic to sit through the full six-hour version of the Get Back documentary from 2021, which was directed by Peter Jackson."I haven't watched the six-hour one," Starkey confessed. "Because I have a four-year-old child, and if I've got six hours, I'll probably take a break and go to bed!"

Starkey also admitted earlier in 2025 that his famous father was supposedly not exactly quick with compliments when it came to his son's drumming early on.

"My dad never opened the doors for me. He'd watch me and say the most cutting f—ing s—. But he is the greatest rock n' roll drummer in the world. He's better now than he was then."

Source: Ultimate Guitar

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