Ringo Starr Announces New Americana Album And Drops First Single

After days of cryptic social media posts featuring fragments of lyrics and images filled with purple hues, Ringo Starr has finally revealed what he was hinting at. The legendary former Beatles drummer has announced his latest studio project, Long Long Road, a country-influenced album set for release on April 24.

The record continues Starr’s creative partnership with acclaimed producer, songwriter, and musician T Bone Burnett, following their previous collaboration on 2025’s Look Up. The new album features 10 tracks and is already available for pre-order, marking Starr’s second consecutive venture into country and Americana territory alongside Burnett.

A New Song and a Familiar Country Direction

To accompany the announcement, Starr has released the album’s lead single, “It’s Been Too Long.” The track features guest vocals from celebrated Americana artists Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz, whose harmonies help shape the song’s warm, roots-driven sound. The lyrics Starr previously teased on social media were taken directly from this track, which is also accompanied by a visualizer video on his official YouTube channel.

Burnett had a major hand in shaping the album’s songwriting, writing or co-writing six of the record’s songs. Starr himself co-wrote three tracks, continuing his long-standing tradition of contributing his own voice to the material. The album also includes a cover of “I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore,” a lesser-known track originally released as a single by rockabilly pioneer Carl Perkins in 1959.

The Perkins connection is fitting, considering Starr’s long history with the rockabilly legend. During the early Beatles years, the band recorded Perkins’ songs, further cementing his influence on their sound. Revisiting one of Perkins’ compositions decades later adds another layer of musical continuity to Starr’s latest work.

According to a press release, the album’s title reflects Starr’s enduring journey in music, blending “solid roots in country and Americana [that] evolved into something broader.” Among the album’s highlights is “Choose Love,” a newly recorded version of the title track from Starr’s 2005 album of the same name.

Starr Reflects on His Creative Partnership with Burnett

Speaking about the project, Starr emphasized how naturally the new album came together following the success of their previous collaboration.

“I’m blessed to have T Bone in my life right now and working with me on these records,” Starr said. “After we did the last record, which I love listening to, this one just sort of happened. I like to say sometimes I make the right moves, like you can go left or right at any point, and one of the right moves was hooking up with T Bone for Look Up, and now for this one, which I’m calling Long Long Road, because I’ve been on a long long road.”

Starr also spoke about the decision to record a Carl Perkins track for the album.

“I recorded two Carl Perkins songs with The Beatles, and both T Bone and I wanted one on this record, and he found this beautiful track I’d never heard before, ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore’.”

For Burnett, the collaboration with Starr has been deeply meaningful. “I’ve loved Ringo’s playing and his singing for my whole life,” he said. He explained that when Starr asked him to write a song for him, he approached it from an unexpected angle. “I wrote him a Gene Autry type song because I always heard Ringo as a Texas artist, the way he played felt just like Texas music to me.”

Burnett also made a point of surrounding Starr with a vibrant mix of established and younger musicians. “Ringo Starr is a recording artist of the highest caliber, and I wanted to surround him with these young masters, bringing in some of this extraordinary young energy that’s happening around Nashville for both of these records.”

Nashville Talent and a Road That Continues

The album brings together a wide array of collaborators, many of whom also appeared on Look Up. Tuttle returns for the new record, as does bluegrass star Billy Strings. Additional guest appearances come from Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent, adding even more texture to the album’s blend of Americana and modern roots music.

Several highly respected Nashville session musicians also contribute to the project, including pedal-steel guitarist Paul Franklin, bassist Dennis Crouch, guitarist Colin Linden, and multi-instrumentalists Daniel Tashian and Rory Hoffman. Burnett has dubbed this collective “The Texans,” a nod to a skiffle band Starr played with in Liverpool back in 1959.

Despite being more than six decades into his musical career, Starr continues to approach new projects with a sense of curiosity and enthusiasm. The collaborative spirit behind Long Long Road suggests that the drummer-turned-frontman still finds fresh inspiration by working with new generations of musicians while revisiting the musical traditions that shaped his early years.

Starr will also be taking that spirit back to the stage. He is scheduled to embark on a late-spring 2026 tour with his All Starr Band, a 12-date run across the western United States. The tour begins May 28 in Temecula, California, and concludes June 14 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, with additional stops in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.

For Starr, however, touring and recording are less about revisiting past glory and more about continuing the journey. With Long Long Road, the veteran musician once again proves that even after a lifetime in music, the road ahead still holds plenty of songs waiting to be written.

‘Long Long Road’ Track List:
Side One

“Returning Without Tears”
“Baby Don’t Go”
“I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore”
“It’s Been Too Long”
“Why”
Side Two

“You And I (Wave Of Love)”
“My Baby Don’t Want Nothing”
“Choose Love”
“She’s Gone”
“Long Long Road”