McCartney Times

For the first time ever this year, the annual celebration of Ringo’s birthday began in outer space.

The International Space Station was the first to wish Ringo a Happy Birthday by sending a message, and a video birthday card from Commander Chris Cassidy and his crew:

“Hi Ringo! Happy Birthday. This is NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, the Commander of the International Space Station orbiting 260 miles above our planet. My crew and I would like to extend our sincerest birthday wishes to you. As an icon of music, your message of love and peace has echoed around the world for decades. Our crew and the entire NASA family would like to extend this message to the world – and across the universe – from our orbiting laboratory.”

Every year Ringo dedicates his birthday to promoting Peace and Love. Because of the pandemic, he was unable to do his usual event, so he hosted instead an online concert and fundraiser, “RINGO’S BIG BIRTHDAY SHOW.”

Encore presentations of this show are being shown on AXS, the exclusive broadcast partner, and on YouTube until July 13. Starting on July 14, an audio presentation of the show will be available for one week on SiriusXM. Starting on July 21, it will be carried exclusively by Ceek.

The broadcast event premiered on his 80^th birthday, 7.7.20, and featured unseen concert footage and unique performances by Ringo, Paul McCartney, Joe Walsh, Ben Harper and Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Gary Clark Jr and Sheila E.

The event also was a benefit for four charities: Black Lives Matter Global Network, the David Lynch Foundation, MusiCares and WaterAid.

Encore presentations of the show can be found on AXS and YouTube until July 13. Starting July 14, an audio version will be available exclusively on SiriusXM followed by an exclusive, one week only, streaming on www.ceek.com.

Additionally, a Ringo curated playlist can be heard in over 10,000 Starbucks locations in the US and Canada through July 18.

The Mars Rover soon followed with the message, “Happy 80th, Ringo Starr! Here’s my view of Earth (and Venus) from the surface of Mars where I’m thinking about your message of peace and love, and how in good times and in tough ones, we all get by with a little help from our friends.”

Meanwhile, earthbound stars here on this planet celebrated by posting tribute performances of Ringo’s music on their socials, many of which can be found on Ringo’s YouTube channel in a Happy 80^th Birthday Playlist.

These came in from a multitude of musicians, including Ben Folds, Ben Dickey, Colin Hay, Elvis Costello, Gregg Rolie, Josiah Johnson, Maggie Koerner and David Shaw, Neal Francis, Peter Frampton, Richard Marx, Steve Lukather and many more.

Following the posts from space, the wave of Peace and Love continued with noontime salutes in countries around the world including:
Argentina – Buenos Aires; Chascomus, Armenia – Yerevan – La Paz, Brazil – Sao Paulo,  Columbia -Bogota, Costa Rica – San Jose, El Salvador – San Salvador,  Estonia – Tallin, Germany – Hamburg and Halle, Guatemala – Guatemala City,  Italy – Venice,  Japan – Osaka; Tokyo, Jerusalem, Panama – Panama City,  Paraguay -Asunción,  Peru – Lima,  Russia – Moscow,  Spain –  Barcelona; Madrid,  United Kingdom –  London,  United States – Minneapolis, Hawaii, Los Angeles, New York City. Yerevan, Aremenia and more.

History of Ringo’s Annual 7.7 Peace & Love Birthday Celebrations:

2008 – Chicago, IL Hard Rock Cafe

2009 – Online campaign including in-store salutes at non at all Hard Rock Cafes worldwide

2010 – New York City, NY: Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square2011 – Hamburg, Germany: Hard Rock Cafe

2012 – Nashville, TN: Hard Rock Café2013 – Online celebration including a video message from Ringo.”

2014 – Los Angeles, CA: Capitol Records Tower

2015 – Los Angeles, CA: Capitol Records Tower

2016 – Los Angeles, CA: Capitol Records Tower

2017 – Los Angeles, CA: Capitol Records Tower

2018 – Nice, France: Hard Rock Café

2019 – Los Angeles, CA: Capitol Records Tower

Source: Ringo’s 80th Birthday Celebration Began in Outer Space « American Songwriter