"We met Johnny Cash on the last gig the Beatles did, in San Francisco," Ringo Starr says today. "That was the last time we did gigs, and Johnny was there to see us off." Starr, 84, remembers it vividly,

Lean, athletic, a full head of black hair and beard and the obligatory sunglasses. Ringo Start exudes a classic, timeless coolness like few others do. You just can't believe that the ex-Beatles drummer is 84 years old.

As far back as the Beatles ' earliest years, the group drew influences far wider than the rock 'n' roll pioneers that directly paved their way. From blues to R&B to even jazz, listen closely to the records released during the Beatlemania years and a wealth of inspiration reveals itself.

Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings and Alison Krauss are among the guests on Starr's T Bone Burnett-produced country set.

Ringo Starr has released his new country album, Look Up. It is his first country album in more than 50 years and his first full-length album since 2019. Listen to it here.

Look Up is given a little spice by a few choice collaborations: the 31-year-old country singer Molly Tuttle features several times, as does the 32-year-old guitarist Billy Strings; their vocal harmonies add charm and loosen up the record where things threaten to get claggy.

Ringo Starr and Friends are celebrating the January 10th release of his brand-new country album, “Look Up,” with two solo performances in Nashville, Tennessee at the Ryman Auditorium on January 14 and 15.

Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new tracks. Listen to the Playlist on Spotify here (or find our profile: nytimes) and at Apple Music here, and sign up for The Amplifier,

When the Beatles fell apart in 1970, Ringo took refuge in his boyhood country dreams, for the underrated solo album Beaucoups of Blues. He flew out to Nashville to bang out a three-day quickie with pedal-steel master Pete Drake and a crew of Music Row session cats.

Ringo Starr seems to have been slowing down for decades. Yet, when he does push the boat out, he invariably sets sail for unchartered waters. Look Up finds him produced by hipster T.Bone Burnett, who wrote or co-wrote nine of these 11 songs.