Ringo Starr

As a musically creative drummer for the Beatles, Starr's contribution to their music has received high praise from notable drummers. Starr described himself as "your basic offbeat drummer with funny fills". Drummer Steve Smith said that Starr's popularity "brought forth a new paradigm" where "we started to see the drummer as an equal participant in the compositional aspect" and that Starr "composed unique, stylistic drum parts for the Beatles' songs". In 2011, Starr was picked as the fifth-best drummer of all-time by Rolling Stone readers. Starr is the most documented and critically acclaimed actor among the Beatles, playing a central role in several of their films, and appearing in numerous other films, both during and after his career with them. After their break-up in 1970, Starr achieved solo musical success with several singles and albums, and recorded with each of his fellow ex-Beatles as they too developed their post-Beatle musical careers. He has also been featured in a number of TV documentaries, hosted TV shows, narrated the first two series of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and portrayed "Mr. Conductor" during the first season of the PBS children's television series Shining Time Station. Since 1989, Starr has toured with twelve variations of Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.