Ringo Starr is getting candid about some of his personal struggles, and those of his wife Barbara Bach.
In honor of his milestone 85th birthday on Monday, July 7, the legendary The Beatles singer reflected on his almost 40 years of sobriety, after both him and his wife entered rehab together a few years into their marriage.
The “Octopus’ Garden” singer and the former model met on the set of Caveman in 1980, in which they had roles as each other’s love interests, and tied the knot the following year.
In 1986, both entered rehab together to deal with their substance and alcohol addiction. Ringo, speaking with People at his annual “Peace & Love” birthday celebration in Los Angeles this week, recalled: “Well, I ended up in a rehab because I was not treating myself or anyone around me with any respect.”
“It was all about me,” he shared, adding: “I came out, and I haven’t had a drink since. Thank the Lord.”
A November 1988 report from the Los Angeles Times wrote at the time that Ringo’s friends and family were stunned to learn that he had gone to rehab. The Beatles former spokesman Derek Taylor said that Barbara and Ringo had entered a clinic for treatment four weeks prior using Ringo’s real name, Richard Starkey, and that they had about a month to go of their treatment.
© GettyThe clinic, which was in the United States, was not named at the time, but it was reported that it was not the famous Betty Ford clinic, which was founded in 1982 by former First Lady Betty Ford, President Gerald Ford’s wife, and which later was used by celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan and Johnny Cash as well as Elizabeth Taylor, who met one of her seven husbands, Larry Fortensky, while in treatment there.
Ringo similarly reflected on the decades that he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction speaking to the Times of London in 2015. “I was mad. For 20 years. I had breaks in between of not being mad. These days I can be mad but I’m not the Mad Hatter.”
© Getty“I was drunk,” he further said of the 70s and 80s, adding: “I didn’t notice . . . Some of those years are absolutely gone.”
Ringo, who has been a vegetarian for several decades, is now largely based in Beverly Hills. Sharing insight into his health habits and routine back in 2015, he said: “I do live healthily. I’m a vegetarian and I eat a lot of kale and broccoli. And a lot of berries. It works for me.”
© Getty ImagesBarbara and Ringo never had kids of their own, but he has three kids from his previous marriage to Maureen Cox, who passed away in 1994 after a battle with leukemia. They were married from 1965 to 1975, divorcing after respective affairs, Ringo with model Nancy Lee Adams and Maureen with his Beatles bandmate George Harrison, who passed away in 2001 after a battle with lung cancer.
His kids are Zak, 59, who has followed in his dad’s footsteps and was part of rock band The Who from 1996 until this year, Jason, 57, who worked as a drummer, manager, and later photographer before ultimately exiting the spotlight, and Lee, 57, who is a make-up artist and fashion designer.
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