Ringo Starr has announced a virtual charity concert for his 80th birthday that will see him reunited with ex-bandmate Sir Paul McCartney, 78, on July 7. The Beatles drummer took to YouTube Tuesday to notify fans that that he’d be holding the annual benefit show online due to coronavirus concerns.
“We’re doing something for my birthday — but it’s going to be a little different than usual,” says Starr, who has hosted Peace and Love birthday concerts for over a decade, reports Radio X.
He tells Rolling Stone: “There’s no big get-together, there’s no brunch for 100. But we’re putting this show together — an hour of music and chat.”
Indeed, the stay-at-home celebration will feature a mashup of both livestreamed performances and old footage of Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark Jr., Sheila E., Ben Harper and more.
As if that wasn’t star-studded enough, the charity concert will also include a rendition of Starr’s 2017 song “Give More Love,” featuring Jackson Browne, Jeff Bridges, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson and others. The “Yellow Submarine” singer also will broadcast a selection of tribute performances on his YouTube channel courtesy of Steve Earle, Peter Frampton and Judy Collins.
Proceeds will go to the David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares, WaterAid and Black Lives Matter Global Network, which Starr has been an outspoken advocate for.
The Liverpudlian rock star last collaborated with his former bandmate while tweeting support for the Black Lives Matter movement in June amid the protests over the death of George Floyd: “As my brother Paul said, The Beatles always stood for equal rights&justice and I’ve never stopped working for peace&love ever since. #blacklivesmatter ,#peaceispossible — I send my peace love & continuous support to everyone marching & speaking up for justice & a better world.”
The virtual B-day benefit will air on Starr’s YouTube channel at 8 p.m. EST on July 7.
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