Who was the Beatles’ original drummer? [originaltext] Former Beatles drummer

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr will celebrate his 61st birthday on July 7th. In 1962, he replaced the Beatles’ original drummer Pete Best. After the group disbanded, Starr began recording as a soloist, and in 1973, scored two Number One hits, "Photograph" and "You’re Sixteen". In 1992, he recorded "Time Takes Time," which marked his first collection of new songs in more than 10 years. In 1998, Mercury Records released his latest studio album, "Vertical Man". That same year, the label issued a CD containing performances from his appearance on VHl’s "Storytellers" series. That was followed by his 1999 Christmas collection, "I wanna Be Santa Claus". Starr will kick off his annual All Starr Band tour on July 26th in Ontario. This year’s lineup features Sheila E., Ian Hunter, Howard Jones, Greg Lake, Roger Hodgson and Mark Rivera. To coincide with the outing, Koch Records will release a 3-CD live set, "The Anthology from Far: Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band."