I used to wear different rings when I first got called Ringo in about 19, about, umm, '59 I got called Ringo.

I feel as though that was someone else playing. I was possessed!

Gaps can be very emotional. I mean, that's in my drumming. When I drum, you know, I don't need to drum all over the track. I play with the singer and I can back off.

A lot of the players I'm with, thank God, we're all still vertical. We've lost so many great players through the years, and we're still standing, as Elton John says.

I've never gone to the bedroom when I was starting out and practiced away.

F irst and foremost I am a drummer. After that, I'm other things... But I didn't play drums to make money. I played drums because I loved them... My soul is that of a drummer... It came to where I had to make a decision - I was going to be a drummer. Everything else goes now. I play drums. It was a conscious moment in my life when I said the rest of things were getting in the way. I didn't do it to be come rich and famous, I did it because it was the love of my life.

When they come here, the English make a choice: New York or L.A. L.A. suited me better, I just feel comfortable here.