Post-Beatles, Ringo Starr has made a nice career out of getting by with a little help from his friends, and Ringo & Friends at the Ryman, which streams on Paramount+, is the latest example. The beloved Beatle, drummer, singer, and songwriter is 84 now, but he still knows how to have a good time, and for this concert special, recorded late last year in Nashville, Starr is joined in performance by Jack White, Sheryl Crow, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, and Larkin Poe. Also making appearances/delivering testimonials are Paul McCartney, Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson, The War & Treaty, and Brenda Lee, and the whole night celebrates Ringo Starr’s 21st solo record, 2025’s country music-themed Look Up.  

Opening Shot: An announcer greets the audience over aerial shots of Ryman Auditorium, the 3000-seat former home of the Grand Ole Opry. “Get ready for a once-in-a-lifetime show when Liverpool lands in Nashville!”

The Gist: Ringo & Friends at the Ryman is pretty performance-based, and kicks off with Jack White joining Ringo on vocals and guitar for “Matchbox,” the Carl Perkins tune, which the Bealtes covered in 1964. “He was the one who really brought a lot of country influence to that band,” White says of Ringo in one of the brief cutaway interviews also included in Ryman. White goes on to reference the country feel of Starr’s 1970 solo album Beaucoups of Blues, and in a separate interview, alongside Look Up producer T Bone Burnett, Starr recalls the memorable 48 hours he spent in Nashville while recording some of his first solo work. Burnett additionally serves as a kind of emcee for Ringo & Friends event, and at the Ryman, he introduces Sheryl Crow, Molly Tuttle, and Mickey Guyton as they contribute terrific harmony vocals on a version of Ringo’s 1971 single “It Don’t Come Easy.”

“We were a cover band in the Beatles,” Ringo tells Crow in Ringo & Friends at the Ryman. “We did borrow riffs and stuff like that, but we borrowed the finest and the best.” The special balances these little interview snippets with non-performing appearances from McCartney, Dolly, and Lainey Wilson, and for the younger country, bluegrass, and Americana musicians who are performing, they mostly summarize it with a line like “I can’t believe I’m on stage with a Beatle.” Molly Tuttle performs the title track of Look Up with Starr, but even an outsized personality like Jack White is deferential to the legacy on display. Playing the guitar and singing with Ringo is one thing – White says he’d be happy just to hold the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s drum sticks. 

“I think you get to play drums on this,” Crow says as Ringo joins her for what he calls one of his favorite songs, “Boys,” the Shirelles number included by the Beatles on Please Please Me. Tuttle takes a pleasant solo spin through “Octopus’s Garden,” Billy Strings’ electric guitar shines on “Honey Don’t,” and Rodney Crowell sings “Act Naturally” with accompanying vocals and some incredible guitar work from Sarah Jarosz. Overall, Ringo & Friends at the Ryman hits a sweet spot somewhere between honoring Starr’s work with the Beatles, hitting the highlights of his solo work – Strings also joins Starr for “Photograph” – and having fun on stage as a rock ‘n’ roll legend goes a little bit country.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Peter Jackson’s docuseries Get Back has become a defining statement on the Beatles dynamic since its 2021 release. But content mining around one of the biggest bands ever doesn’t end, which explains how 2024 saw a remastered release of Let It Be. That one’s notable for the rooftop concert footage, but also, Ringo Starr and George Harrison are winners in the fashion department.

Our Take: There is an entire wing of the entertainment industry that seems to boil down to Asking Surviving Beatles Shit. So you get stuff like Beatles ‘64, which mostly revisits existing documentary material, but also finds a way to shoehorn in a funny, foul-mouthed new quote from Paul McCartney. What’s interesting about Ringo & Friends at the Ryman, for one thing, is that it’s centered on live performance instead of interviews. Ringo is in his 80s, and he’s a legend. He could promote his new solo record, which this set draws from, heavily or not at all; it would still sell. But at the Ryman he’s out there onstage doing the songs, interacting with the musicians and the crowd, and enjoying a little sway whenever he steps away from the drums to take lead vocals. It’s a contented, almost quiet version of showmanship that Ringo brings, and it’s always tuned up with his trademark self-deprecation. “As you may know I have a solo record out,” he tells the audience at one point, as if no one did. It’s an enjoyable bit of stage banter, and similar to Jack White’s sentiment, who understood the feel of the evening. “I’m gonna play a song from the White Album,” he says, introducing “Don’t Pass Me By.” “Anybody got a copy of that?”

“There’s just something fun, youthful, and energetic about him,” singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson says in Ringo & Friends, “and it seems to also be eternal.” It’s another nice way to characterize the feel of this special, where musicians with Grammys and country music bonafides are clearly enjoying bringing elements of that sound to the Beatles’ and Starr’s music, or just the chance to jam live with Ringo.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: It’s a group blow-out on stage as the performers and other notables gather with the man of the hour for celebratory singalong versions of Ringo Starr’s most famous lead vocal appearances with the Beatles, “Yellow Submarine” and – you knew it would be the set closer – “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

Sleeper Star: The backing band throughout the evening, many of whom are regular members of Ringo’s All-Starr Band, are a crisp and expressive unit. But “Sleeper Star” status goes to Paul Franklin, whose pedal steel leads steadily add tasteful country flavor to the set. 

Most Pilot-y Line: “I can’t think of anybody who emulates love and peace like Ringo,” Shery Crow says from the stage. “That’s what we need, right? Are you guys feeling that, too? And to be here with such legends, but also for me to get to play with the young whippersnappers, who are inspiring me to keep going, what a cool night.”

Our Call: Stream It. Bits of country licks are added to Beatles classics, and a few deep cuts from the Ringo solo years are also highlighted as Ringo & Friends at the Ryman takes the stage in Nashville with concert special vibes.  

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.