Editing Ringo Starr (section)

==== 1980s ====
On 19 May 1980, Starr and Barbara Bach survived a car crash in [[Surrey]], England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liketotally80s.com/2016/08/john-lennon-ringo-starr-1980s-timeline/|title=John Lennon and Ringo Starr in the 1980s: A Timeline|date=16 August 2016|access-date=6 November 2018|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211080307/http://www.liketotally80s.com/2016/08/john-lennon-ringo-starr-1980s-timeline/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following [[Murder of John Lennon|Lennon's murder]] in December 1980, Harrison modified the lyrics of a song he had originally written for Starr, "[[All Those Years Ago]]", as a tribute to their former bandmate.{{sfn|Doggett|2009|p=273}} Released as a Harrison single in 1981, the track, which included Starr's drum part and overdubbed backing vocals by McCartney, peaked at number two in the US charts and number 13 in the UK.<ref>{{harvnb|George-Warren|2001|p=414}}; {{harvnb|Harry|2003|pp=17–18}}; {{harvnb|Roberts|2005|p=227}}: peak UK chart position for "All Those Years Ago"; {{harvnb|Whitburn|2010|p=288}}: peak US chart position for "All Those Years Ago".</ref> Later that year, Starr released ''[[Stop and Smell the Roses (Ringo Starr album)|Stop and Smell the Roses]]'', featuring songs produced by Nilsson, McCartney, Harrison, [[Ronnie Wood]] and [[Stephen Stills]].{{sfn|Harry|2004|pp=326–327}} The album's lead single, the Harrison-composed "Wrack My Brain", reached number 38 in the US charts, but failed to chart in the UK.<ref>{{harvnb|Harry|2004|p=369}}: peak US chart position for "Wrack My Brain"; {{harvnb|Roberts|2005|p=479}}: "Wrack My Brain" failed to chart in the UK.</ref> Lennon had offered a pair of songs for inclusion on the album – "[[Nobody Told Me]]" and "[[Life Begins at 40 (song)|Life Begins at 40]]" – but following his death, Starr did not feel comfortable recording them.{{sfn|Harry|2004|pp=326–327}} Soon after the murder, Starr and his girlfriend [[Barbara Bach]] flew to New York City to be with Lennon's widow Yoko Ono.{{sfn|Clayson|2005|p=301}}{{refn|group=nb|From 1981 onwards, Starr also worked on McCartney's solo recordings for the first time.{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|p=263}} With Martin producing the sessions, Starr's playing appeared on the McCartney albums ''[[Tug of War (Paul McCartney album)|Tug of War]]'' (1982),{{sfn|Badman|2001|pp=280, 300}} ''[[Pipes of Peace]]'' (1983) and ''[[Give My Regards to Broad Street]]'' (1984).{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|pp=270, 277}}}}

Following ''Stop and Smell the Roses'', Starr's recording projects were beset with problems. After completing ''[[Old Wave]]'' in 1982 with producer [[Joe Walsh]],{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|p=522}} he was unable to find a record company willing to release the album in the UK or the US.{{sfn|Doggett|2009|p=283}} In 1987, he abandoned sessions in Memphis for a planned country album, produced by [[Chips Moman]], after which Moman was blocked by a court injunction from issuing the recordings.{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|pp=525–26}} Starr narrated the 1984–1986 series of the children's series ''[[Thomas & Friends]]'', a [[Britt Allcroft]] production based on the [[The Railway Series|books]] by the [[W. V. Awdry|Reverend W. Awdry]].{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=322}} For a single season in 1989, Starr also portrayed the character Mr. Conductor in the American ''Thomas & Friends'' spin-off, ''[[Shining Time Station]]''.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=314}}

In 1985, Starr performed with his son [[Zak Starkey|Zak]] as part of [[Artists United Against Apartheid]] on the protest song "[[Sun City (song)|Sun City]]",{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=328}} and, with Harrison and [[Eric Clapton]], was among the special guests on [[Carl Perkins]]' TV special ''[[Blue Suede Shoes: A Rockabilly Session]]''.{{sfn|Badman|2001|pp=359–60}} In 1987, he played drums on Harrison's Beatles pastiche "[[When We Was Fab]]" and also appeared in [[Godley & Creme]]'s innovative video clip for the song.{{sfn|Doggett|2009|p=292}}{{sfn|Madinger|Easter|2000|pp=470–71}} The same year, Starr joined Harrison, Clapton, [[Jeff Lynne]] and Elton John in a performance at London's [[Wembley Arena]] for the [[Prince's Trust]] charity.{{sfn|Harry|2003|pp=304–305}} In January 1988, he attended the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] ceremony in New York, with Harrison and Ono (the latter representing Lennon), to accept the Beatles' induction into the Hall of Fame.{{sfn|Badman|2001|p=402}}

During October and November 1988, Starr and Bach attended a [[Alcohol detoxification|detox]] clinic in [[Tucson, Arizona]]; each received a six-week treatment for alcoholism.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=135}} He later commented on his longstanding addiction: "Years I've lost, absolute years ... I've no idea what happened. I lived in a blackout."{{sfn|Doggett|2009|pp=297–98}}{{refn|group=nb|Starr experienced his first [[Blackout (drug-related amnesia)|alcoholic blackout]] at the age of nine.{{sfn|Clayson|2005|p=24}}}} Having embraced sobriety, Starr focused on re-establishing his career by making a return to touring.{{sfn|Clayson|2005|pp=337–41}} On 23 July 1989, [[Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band]] gave their first performance to an audience of ten thousand in [[Dallas]], Texas.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=136}} Setting a pattern that would continue over the following decades,{{sfn|Doggett|2009|p=298}} the band consisted of Starr and an assortment of musicians who had been successful in their own right at different times.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=7}} The concerts interchanged Starr's singing, including selections of his Beatles and solo songs, with performances of each of the other artists' well-known material, the latter incorporating either Starr or another musician as drummer.{{sfn|Harry|2004|p=7}}