George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1990 (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)George Harrison‘s widow, Olivia, says she’s planning to give a very special gift to Ringo Starr: a set of handwritten lyrics to a never-recorded song from the early 1970s called “Hey Ringo,” which her late husband wrote in honor of his Beatles bandmate.
Reportedly, the “Hey Ringo” lyrics were recently discovered in a piano bench, and a replica of the lyric sheet was included in the new expanded version of George’s 1980 memoir I Me Mine. Olivia recently told Billboard that she and Ringo both got to check out the lyrics for the first time at a special event held February 25 in L.A., where they celebrated the release of the updated memoir and a new vinyl box set of George’s solo albums..
“Ringo had never seen [the lyrics] until [the pop-up event],” Olivia recalled. “He said, ‘Hey, I’ve never seen that before.’ And I said I hadn’t either…I’m going to get it framed and give it to him because it’s really sweet.”
She adds, “It’s like ‘Hey Ringo…without you my guitar plays far too slow.’ That was a big revelation and surprise. Ringo was totally surprised and really happy.”
The song also includes the lyrics, “Hey Ringo, there’s one thing that I’ve not said/ I’ll play my guitar with you till I drop dead.”
Starr told Rolling Stone at the pop-up event that he was very moved by the words. “He was my best friend,” he said of Harrison. “I had two other great friends, and three brothers. We were pals.”
I Me Mine: The Extended Edition is available now.
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