Maureen Starkey

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Maureen Cox Starkey (August 4, 1946 – December 30, 1994) was the wife of Beatle drummer, Richard Starkey (a.k.a. Ringo Starr). They married in 1965 and divorced in 1975. The couple had three children, Zak, Jason, and Lee.

[edit] Meeting the Beatles

Maureen Cox was a sixteen year old hairdresser, and like many teenagers in Liverpool, she was interested in the Merseybeat sound. She was a regular at the Cavern Club where the band, The Beatles were playing. She had developed a crush on Ringo and seeing him on the street one day, chased after him. She was able to get his autograph and he wrote his license number on the paper as well. Paul McCartney, however, was the first Beatle Cox kissed. Her friend made a bet saying that she couldn't kiss Paul. Maureen, determined to win, fought her way backstage and went right up to McCartney and kissed him. Spying Ringo, she went up and kissed him as well.

It was three weeks later until Ringo took any notice of her. Once he did, they went out regularly together. After they began dating, she would still go to Cavern performances to watch the Beatles, but it was getting more and more dangerous for her to go. As Cox recalled in 1967:

(The girls) used to hang around the Cavern all day long, just on the off chance of seeing them. They'd come out of the lunchtime session and just stand outside all afternoon, queuing up for the evening. Ritchie and I once went past at midnight and they were already queuing up for the next day....The object was to get as near the front row as possible, so that they could see the Beatles, and be seen. I never joined the queue till about two or three hours before the Cavern opened. It frightened me. There would be fights and rows among the girls. When the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over. They'd keep their rollers in and jeans on for the first groups. Then when it got near the time for the Beatles to come on, if there was a gang of four say, they would go off in turns to the lavatory with their little cases to get changed and made up. So when the Beatles came on they'd look smashing, as if they'd just arrived...They were obviously dying to be noticed and get to know one of them. But no, it was really just everything about being there. It was terrible, the mad screams when they came on...."

Maureen's life was regularly threatened when some of the fans figured out that she was dating Ringo. Their relationship would end for some time, since The Beatles were about to become famous world-wide. Starr moved to London, while she stayed in Liverpool. She visited Starr when his tonsils were removed and he was unable to tour for a short while, and their relationship began again.

At this point, Cox wasn't well known in the press. That was until she went on holiday with Starr, Paul McCartney, and his girlfriend, Jane Asher. Cox, afraid her parents would object, went on this holiday without her parents knowing. When her name was all over the British tabloids, they knew where she was. Maureen's father, Joe Cox, 1964:

"It really did not surprise my wife or myself when we learned she was half way across the world. In any case it wouldn't have made any difference. I would have given her permission anyway. Maureen is a sensible girl and well able to take care of herself."

Maureen answered many of Ringo's letters from his female fans. Parents would write back thanking her for being so nice to their daughters.

[edit] Marriage to Ringo

The 18-year-old Cox married Ringo Starr on February 11, 1965. Their first child, Zak Starkey, was born on September 13, 1965. (Zak was followed by Jason on August 19, 1967 and Lee on November 11, 1970 ). During this time, Maureen was very much a part of Ringo's life, and they did everything together. She sang backup vocals on The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill and also was, along with Yoko Ono, in attendance at the rooftop concert in 1969. (Paul can be heard saying "Thanks Mo").

When the Beatles broke up in 1970, the Starkey marriage began to unravel over the next five years. Ringo's infidelities were increasing even more, his alcoholism becoming more of a problem. To make matters worse, when the Starrs were visiting George and Pattie Harrison, George said how much he loved Maureen [1]. Rumors have persisted that this fateful evening led to the breakup of the Harrisons' and Starrs' marriages.

Despite all of the marriage problems the couple faced, Maureen Starkey didn't want a divorce. Her husband, however, simply wanted out. Maureen unwillingly accepted. On July 17, 1975, the divorce was finalized on the grounds of Ringo's affair with an American model, Nancy Andrew [2].

[edit] After Ringo

She married Isaac Tigrett, of Hard Rock Cafe fame, in 1989.

Maureen died in 1994 of leukemia despite a bone marrow transplant from her son Zak. Paul McCartney wrote the song "Little Willow", which appears on his 1997 album Flaming Pie, as a tribute to her memory, and he dedicated it to her children. [3]