Ringo Starr has shared highlights and behind-the-scenes footage from his 11th annual “Peace and Love” birthday celebration event at the Capitol Records Tower in Los Angeles this weekend.
As Starr explains during an interview in the clip, the “Peace and Love” celebration started in 2008 and came about after a journalist asked Starr what he wanted for his birthday. He replied,, “I’d like everyone on the planet to go, ‘Peace and love’ on my birthday.” The event has since become an annual July 7th tradition, and now fans in over 26 countries have organized their own celebrations.
The Los Angeles event this past Sunday found Starr celebrating with David Lynch, Peter Jackson, Nils Lofgren, Sheila E., Benmont Tench, Ed Begley, Jr. and more. The clip also included snippets of performances by Ben Kyle and Sara Watkins, the Jacks and the students of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus in partnership with the Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center, who sang an original song about peace and love that will premiere online at a later date.
Towards the end of the clip, Starr spoke about his hopes for the “peace and love” movement, saying, “I’m just going, ‘Peace and love,’ and you can see it’s getting bigger and maybe it gets so big that it’ll be ‘Peace and Love World.’ That’s my dream.”
