Jack White and Sheryl Crow perform with Ringo Starr at benefit show in Nashville
The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr was joined on stage by friends Jack White, Sheryl Crow, and others on January 14th for a special country show in Nashville, which celebrated his career and legacy.
The concert, Ringo & Friends At The Ryman, will be available to stream on CBS in the coming months. It will include footage accumulated from the concert on January 14th and another show set to take place at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on January 15th.
Throughout the show, Starr performed country-leaning reinterpretations of a series of songs by The Beatles and also treated the crowd to cuts from his most recent solo record, Look Up.
The two shows also have a charitable purpose, with proceeds going to the American Red Cross and those impacted by the wildfires across Los Angeles.
In a statement shared via The Hollywood Reporter, Starr described the opportunity to play at the Ryman Auditorium as “a thrill”, especially now that his team “are going country!” He continued: “T Bone [Burnett] has put together a great show. I’m excited to hear my songs done in a country vein and to play with this incredible group of musicians. It will be two nights of peace, love and country music.”
T Bone Burnett produced and wrote the show. Other guests, including Brenda Lee, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Mickey Guyton, Sarah Jarosz, Jamey Johnson, Billy Strings, The War and Treaty, Larkin Poe, and Molly Tuttle, are set to perform alongside Starr over the two concerts.
Alongside the performances, Ringo & Friends at the Ryman will also feature Starr reflecting on how country music has influenced his life and music, with guests sharing their own experiences and stories regarding Starr’s impact on their music. “There is not a single person in the world who has generated more goodwill than Ringo Starr, and I write this without hyperbole,” Burnett said.
Starr recently released his latest studio album, Look Up, his first country album in five decades and his first full-length record since 2019. Nine of the 11 songs were co-written by Burnett, with collaborations from Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, Molly Tuttle, and more featuring on the record.
In a three-star review, Far Out said: “Look Up is technically sound, but the focal point fails to deliver on the key aspects that help us lean towards country music. We end up with a shell of a record, missing out on humility and depth. It’s not a terrible album to listen to, but there are much better out there.”
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