Ringo Starr is bringing his 30th anniversary All Starr Band tour to Chicago in 2019

Ringo Starr has announced his 30th anniversary tour plans with the latest edition of his All Starr Band. The 2019 lineup will feature all veteran All Starr’s including Toto‘s Steve Lukather, Men At Work‘s Colin Hay, Santana and Journey co-founder Gregg Rolie, along with percussionist Warren Ham and drummer Gregg Bissonette. Returning to the group will be Hamish Stuart from the Average White Band and longtime Paul McCartney sideman. The first leg begins in March with one U.S. show at Harrah’s Resort Southern California set for March 21st before the tour heads to Japan for a nine-date run. So far, there are six North American dates on the books, with a full itinerary still to be announced.

According to the tour announcement, “August 2019 marks the 30th Anniversary of Ringo & His All Starr Band and they will hit the road for a celebratory tour which will kick off at Caesar’s in Windsor on August 1st and then head to Ravinia near Chicago, Illinois to play two shows with the Beach Boys on August 3rd and 4th and two shows at Nashville’s historic Ryman in Tennessee on August 7th and 8th. The tour will conclude September 1st at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California — nearly 30 years to the day when the inaugural All Starr’s completed their first tour on September 3, 1989.”

With nearly 30 years worth of gigs under his belt, Pulse asked Ringo to recall how he felt back in 1989 when he was launching his first All Starr Band tour, which marked not only his first ever solo road dates — but his first tour since the Beatles called it quits after their 1966 North American trek: “I was real nervous, I had never done it before. Y’know, it was presented to me — ‘Would you like to do this if we have a sponsor?’ And I thought, ‘Wow. Let’s see.’ And I was nervous, but it worked then and it’s working now.”

Hamish Stuart was part of Paul McCartney’s backing band from 1987 to 1993, prior to touring with the All Starr’s in 2006. Stuart said to Pulse that during the last tour that he felt at ease performing alongside Ringo: “It’s great. It’s a treat, y’know? (Laughs) He plays his thing, he is Ringo, and he’s really — now that we’ve done a few shows, well everybody is starting to play a little more and things are starting to open up. It’s really exciting. It’s very good.”

Ringo Starr is a rare breed having nothing but love and respect for has past and excitement and pleasure from his work today: “Well, I think the shining hours keep coming. I do, I think they keep coming. You sell yourself short if you think that was the moment. I’ve had many great moments; I’ve enjoyed my life, I’ve been, y’know. . . the gift of being able to play and tostill be able to play with musicians like I’ve got on stage today — it’s a blessing.” (Pulse)

JUST ANNOUNCED: Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band tour dates (subject to change):
March 21 – Valley Center, CA – Harrah’s Southern California Resort
March 27 – Fukuoka, Japan – Sun Palace Hall
March 29 – Hiroshima, Japan – Uenogakuen
April 1 – Tokyo, Japan – Electron Hall Miyagi Sendai Japan
April 2 – Koriyama, Japan – Shimin Center
April 3 – Tokyo, Japan – Hitomi Kinen Kodo
April 5 – Tokyo, Japan – Dome City Hall
April 9 – Nagoya, Japan – Zepp
April 10 – Osaka, Japan – Archaic Hall
April 11 – Osaka, Japan – Orix Theatre
August 1 – Windsor, ON – Caesar’s Windsor
August 3, 4 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia (with The Beach Boys)
August 7, 8 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
September 1 – Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre