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A14 PEOPLE / ARTS
Friday 29 September 2023

Ringo Starr on ‘Rewind Forward,’ writing country music, the AI-

assisted final Beatles track and more

By MARIA SHERMAN ues to hit the road because
AP Music Writer he simply loves it: “I get ev-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — There erything I need.”
are rock stars, and then More short collections
there is Ringo Starr — drum- are on the horizon, too.
mer for the Beatles, award- (“Right now, I’m EP crazy,”
winning soloist, photog- he says.) The next one is
rapher, narrator, actor, founded in country music.
activist. To call him prolific While attending a poetry
would almost shortchange reading by Olivia Harrison,
his accomplishments. But late Beatle George Harri-
it also feels right. “Rewind son’s widow, Starr ran into
Forward,” out October 13, “T-Bone” Burnett. They de-
is his fourth extended play cided to work together.
release in three years. Starr thought he’d get a
“I’ve loved EPs since they pop number, but Burnett
first came out in the ‘60s,” instead sent him a country
he says of the format. “And song. “He actually opened
then I heard the kids are the door,” he says. “So, I
making EPs and thought, thought, ‘Why don’t we do
‘That’s good!’” that, too? A country one.’”
The title is a classic “Ringo- Recently, Starr collabo-
ism,” as John Lennon used rated with McCartney on
to refer to his malaprop- Ringo Starr poses for a portrait, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Dolly Parton’s cover of the
isms, an unusual phrase Hollywood, Calif., to promote his EP “Rewind Forward,” out October 13. Beatles’ “Let It Be.” (“It’s
ripped from the same mind Associated Press good to be a part of it,” he
that came up with “A Hard Starr got a little help from his ever he is in London, or Mc- currently embarked on says, adding that it required
Day’s Night” and “Tomor- friends on the four track EP, Cartney is in LA. a fall tour, which began no convincing. “I’m easy.”)
row Never Knows.” a collection of life-affirming “When he sent the track, September 17th in On- In June, news broke that
Assigning profundity to it songs co-penned by Starr’s he’d actually done the tario, California, and ends a final Beatles recording
came later. “I think it means engineer frequent co-writer drums, so we had to take next month in Thackerville, would soon become avail-
that, you know, you’re sit- Bruce Sugar, Steve Lukath- them off,” he says, laugh- Oklahoma. It’s a feat for a able, created using artificial
ting still for a while. You er of the All Starr Band, To- ing. If there is a thematic veteran performer when so intelligence technology to
rewind and you find out ‘I to’s Joe Williams, Benmont throughline to “Rewind For- many bands are embark- extricate John Lennon’s
was a much better person Tench and Mike Campbell ward,” or any of Starr’s solo ing on farewell tours. voice from a piano demo
then,’ or ‘this was working of Tom Petty’s Heartbreak- work, it’s a kind of unrelent- “A lot of people have said the same method used
for me better then,’ he says. ers, and many more. ing optimism that even in ‘That’s the last gig!’ And I to separate the Beatles’
You don’t have to ever live “Feeling the Sunlight” was the most troubling circum- say it after every tour and voices from background
in the past, but just check it written by Beatle Paul Mc- stances, peace and love our children and my wife sounds during the making
occasionally.” Cartney, who Starr says he will see you through. are fed up with me. ‘Oh, of director Peter Jackson’s
“Of course, I’m making all “FaceTimes twice a month” It’s that spirit that has kept you said that last time,’” he 2021 documentary series,
this up,” he jokes. and hangs out with when- him moving forward. He’s jokes. And yet, he contin- “The Beatles: Get Back.”q

Al Di Meola suffers a heart attack on stage in Romania but is now

in a stable condition

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) ing the performance and fects the heart’s lower
— The award-winning U.S. that the guitarist struggled chambers and “tend(s) to
guitarist Al Di Meola suf- to walk off stage. The other be more severe and dan-
fered a heart attack during two members of Di Meo- gerous compared to other
a performance in Roma- la’s trio continued to play types of heart attack.”
nia’s capital but is currently for several minutes until Di Meola’s decades-long
in a stable condition and they announced the show career has earned him
receiving treatment, a hos- would be cut short. widespread critical ac-
pital spokesperson said on In a statement, the Bag- claim and awards includ-
Thursday. dasar-Arseni emergency ing a Grammy. One of
Di Meola, 69, began play- hospital said Di Meola was Di Meola’s most popular
ing a concert at a venue admitted to a cardiology tracks is “Mediterranean
in Bucharest at 9 p.m. on ward where he is being Sundance,” which was
Wednesday night. treated for a segment el- part of his 1977 album “El-
Dragos Cristescu, a pho- evation myocardial infarc- egant Gypsy.”
tographer who attended tion, or STEMI. According to his official
U.S. guitarist Al Di Meola raises his hand at the Arenele Romane the concert, told The Asso- According to the health website, he has sold more
concert venue during his performance in Bucharest, Romania,
Wednesday evening, Sept. 27, 2023. ciated Press that he saw Di care website Cleveland than 6 million records
Associated Press Meola clasp his chest dur- Clinic, a STEMI mainly af- worldwide.q