Apr 26, 2026 6:16pm PT

Ringo Starr on Making a Second Album With T Bone Burnett, ‘Long Long Road’: ‘I’d Love to Be Ray Charles, but My Voice Works for Country’

Chris Willman

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Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

ChrisWillman

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Ringo Starr, crooner. It’s not everyone’s first go-to when we’re talking about someone who has rightly earned a reputation as the most important, and many would say best, drummer in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. But T Bone Burnett has long held the belief that Starr is underrated as a singer. And the reasons for Burnett producing new recordings for the ex-Beatle in a country/Americana vein are not just about exploring the genre, although Starr has always had an association with that flavor, going back to the covers and originals he fronted as an occasional lead singer in the Beatles. It’s that the producer thought this was the best way to reframe one of rock’s most heard, and yet most undersung, voices.

Ringo Starr on Making a Second Album With T Bone Burnett, 'Long Long Road': 'I'd Love to Be Ray Charles, but My Voice Works for Country'