Ringo Starr is coming to Charlotte this spring, part of the long and interesting road of the spring tour for Ringo and his All Starr Band. By heading to Charlotte, that means the tour also will bring the Beatles drummer to the region where his beloved Ludwig drums are made. A plant in Monroe is the only place in the world that makes the drums for Starr.
The band is playing Ovens Auditorium June 25. The other stop in North Carolina is June 18 in Greensboro at the Tanger Center. Tickets for the tour go on sale Friday Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.com and on venue sites.
The All Starr Band lineup features regulars Steve Lukather, Colin Hay, Warren Ham, Hamish Stuart, Gregg Bissonette as well as Buck Johnson on keyboards. The tour launches June 12 in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Charlotte is the final stop.
Ahead of the spring tour, the 84-year-old Starr intends to release his second country album, “Look Up,” on Jan. 10, 2025, which he co-wrote with PNC Music Pavilion, who also produced the album. Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band are no strangers to Charlotte. In fact, just a couple years after Starr launched the first iteration of his band in 1989, the band played what was then known as Blockbuster Pavilion (now PNC Music Pavilion) in June 1992.
Starr’s love for Ludwig drums goes to his earliest days with the Beatles. Starr has said he spotted a Ludwig drum kit in a London shop window in April 1963 and was immediately drawn to them because he was enamored with all things American. At the time, the drums were made in Chicago. When the Beatles made their historic appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964, some 73 million people saw Starr wailing away on his Ludwig Downbeat oyster black pearl drum kit. Sales for the drum company exploded overnight.
The company relocated to Monroe in 1984. In 2015, The Charlotte Observer profiled the Union County Ludwig workers who spoke of the pride they take in making drums for Starr, and many other musicians. Starr’s enthusiasm for his Ludwig drums also was evident in a book of his that came out this year called “Beats & Threads.” It combined essays by Starr drums expert Gary Astridge and photos of the main drum kits Starr used during his Beatles career as well as a look at Starr’s iconic fashion from the time.