Pop
Ringo Starr swears The Beatles’ fart rule ‘kept the pressure off’
Ringo Starr - who made up The Beatles with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison - shared the rule as part of his advice for younger bands at his annual Peace and Love event.
Ringo Starr has revealed the one rule The Beatles stuck to in order to “keep the pressure off”.
The drummer - who made up The Beatles with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison - shared the rule as part of his advice for younger bands at his annual Peace and Love event, where he said: “If you’re in the van and you fart – own up to it.”
According to the Daily Star, Ringo continued: “We just occasionally with four guys in a three-hour car journey, one of us would make a noise. And at the beginning, it was like ‘well, it wasn’t me.”
“And we realised, well, just to get it out of the way, say I did it. And it worked a treat and it took the pressure off.”
Owning up to the flatulence meant there was no awkwardness between the bandmates, although Ringo joked: “It wasn’t a thing. We didn’t like go oh, ‘I’m going next’.”
It’s not the first time Ringo has referenced the fart rule.
Speaking at his induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in 2015, he said: “A tip I’ve got for all bands who are starting out: when you’re in a van, if you fart, own up.
“It’ll cause hell if you don’t own up because everyone will blame everyone else. Make a pact in the van.”
He added that The Beatles “did and that’s how we get on so well”.
Ringo has made name for himself as a successful solo artist away from The Beatles, but admitted previously that he found the band’s legacy hard to deal with after they split.
He is quoted by Far Out magazine as saying: “When I was 30, I thought [crossly], ‘Well, what about me? Just me, you know? It’s always related to The Beatles’.
“Now you realise it doesn’t matter what you do, it’s gonna be related, so you just live with it. But to live with it isn’t bad now, ‘cos for me the legacy of the music is well worth it.
“The Beatles left a lot of great music around. You can forget the personalities and just listen to the record, and that’s what it was all about.”
