Ringo Starr shares a health update, cancels end of U.S. tour

Ringo Starr cancels final U.S. shows due to a cold but sends ‘peace and love’ to fans

Ringo Starr flashing a peace sign with one hand while clad in a green and black denim jacket and shades

Sept. 26, 2024 11:38 AM PT

Ringo Starr is feeling less than stellar — which means his U.S. tour has come to a premature end.

The former Beatle, 84, on Tuesday called off the final two shows on his North American summer run after catching a cold. He explained the cancellations on Instagram just hours before he was scheduled to take the stage in Philadelphia.

“Ringo has come down with a cold and after consulting a doctor he was advised to cancel these two remaining shows and get rest,” the statement said, adding that ticketholders for Tuesday’s show — and Wednesday’s finale at Radio City Music Hall in New York City — would receive automatic refunds.

“As always, Ringo and the All Starrs send peace and love to their fans and hope to see them soon,” the post concluded.

While some would-be showgoers expressed frustration at the last-minute timing, with one saying “4 hours before the show is diabolical,” most sent well wishes.

“Love you Ringo. Hope you feel better soon!,” one user wrote.

“I’m sad we don’t get to see him tonight, but first and foremost, we just want him to be healthy and happy,” another said.

Ringo and the All Starrs launched their 12-date fall tour Sept. 7 in San Diego, with a next-day stop at the Greek Theatre — coming 35 years almost to the day since their first gig there on Sept. 3, 1989.

“I remember it like it was yesterday. It was so clear that night,” Starr told The Times earlier this month. “L.A. was becoming the place for me.”

The U.K.-born musician has lived largely in La La Land since the early 1990s.

“When we first came here, in ’64, I was dressed up in a poncho with a holster and a toy gun,” he said. “We went over to Burt Lancaster’s, and he said, ‘Ringo, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘Man, I’m in L.A. — I’m a cowboy.’”

None of the songs from Starr’s April EP “Crooked Boy” were on this tour’s setlist — and for good reason, he told Variety in May.

“I promise you, any band out there, say ‘I’d like to do something from my new LP, EP, CD’ and you can feel the vibe of people going to the toilet, or going to find some T-shirts,” he said. “This, with the All Starrs, is so great because [playing the hits] is why we’re there.”

Starr and Paul McCartney, 82, are the only two living members of the Beatles after John Lennon was assassinated in 1980 and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001.

Around the time of his birthday in July, Starr told Fox News he felt “fit as a fiddle” and works out “nearly every day.”