Todd Rundgren Names the Only Beatle Who Survived the Beatles

Todd Rundgren said Ringo Starr was the only member of the Beatles who’d survived the band relatively unscathed.

He argued that, to different extents, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison had never quite escaped their joint legacy.

In a new interview with Vulture, Rundgren also explained why he’d enjoyed his time in Starr’s All-Starr Band so much.

“Ringo was maybe the only one who survived the Beatles,” he said. “All the other guys had some sort of issues they had to deal with. Paul McCartney, even today, is so afraid that people forget who he is that he’ll show up at a mall opening.

READ MORE: How John Lennon Ended His Fight With Todd Rundgren

“Ringo finally got over being a Beatle and became Ringo… [But] there was a time early on during the All-Starr tours where he was afraid that, if he stopped anywhere in public, he’d be mobbed to death. So he would ignore everybody. By the time he got around to the last couple of tours that I did with him, he was out there… with the fans and comfortable with himself.”

But Rundgren noted it hadn’t necessarily been easy for Starr to escape the shadow of his previous band. “After the Beatles were done, he recorded some stuff but didn’t go out on tour. He was too stage shy. Cut to 10 years later, and Ringo decides that as part of his rehabilitation he’s going to start playing again. He got into real big trouble because when he stopped playing, he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“He started hanging around with Harry Nilsson and getting into all sorts of mischief, and he realized that he was probably going to die unless he got into rehab. Part of the rehab was to start the All-Starr Band.”

The guitarist added: “He has his own regimen, and he’s so freaking healthy. It’s unbelievable how well he takes care of himself. He’s great to work with… it’s a great gig if you can get it.”

Todd Rundgren’s History with Ringo Starr

Rundgren outlined his “interesting history” with Starr, which includes several stints with the All-Starr Band between 1992 and 2017, following a one-off collaboration for a Jerry Lewis telethon in the ‘70s. “[I]t was a fun thing. It was fun to travel the way that Ringo travels,” he said.

“I got asked again in 2012. By then, Steve Lukather and Greg Rolie were playing, and it was a whole different kind of band. Everybody got along so well that at the end of the tour, Ringo, instead of doing what he usually does – ‘We should break up the band and get a whole bunch of new guys’ – kept the same band together for four and a half years.

“It was great because you fly by private jet everywhere you go, and stay in the same hotels as Ringo. You live like a king.”

Explaining why he’d bowed out, Rundgren said: “The only problem for me was after nearly five years, it’s exactly the same show every night with the same jokes and everything. At a certain point, I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I need to feel like I’m moving and evolving to a certain degree.”