In recent days, Ringo Starr has been posting mysterious messages on his social media pages featuring what appear to be lyrics to a new song and photos featuring various purple-colored items. The legendary Beatles drummer has now revealed what he was teasing. He finally announced official details of his upcoming country-themed studio album.
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The album is titled Long Long Road, and it will be released on April 24. The 10-track collection, which can be pre-ordered now, marks Starr’s second consecutive country-influenced studio effort record in collaboration with acclaimed producer, songwriter, and musician T Bone Burnett.
Coinciding with the announcement, Ringo has released an advance lead single titled “It’s Been Too Long.” The track features guest vocals by lauded Americana artists Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz. The lyrics that had been posted on Starr’s socials are from this tune. You also can check out a visualizer video for the song at Starr’s official YouTube channel.
Burnett wrote or co-wrote six songs on Long Long Road, while Starr co-wrote three of the tunes. The album also features a cover of “I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore”. It’s a song that rockabilly legend Carl Perkins released as a single back in 1959.
Burnett also produced and wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on Ringo’s previous album, Look Up. That record was released in January 2025.
According to a press release, Long Long Road’s title reflects Starr’s own musical journey, featuring material with “solid roots in country and Americana [that] evolved into something broader.”
Interestingly, one of the songs on Long Long Road, “Choose Love”, is a new version of the title track of Ringo’s 2005 studio album.
Comments from Starr About the New Album
Ringo discussed his recent collaborations with Burnett in a statement regarding the new album.
“I’m blessed to have T Bone in my life right now and working with me on these records,” Starr said. “After we did the last record, which I love listening to, this one just sort of happened. I like to say sometimes I make the right moves, like you can go left or right at any point, and one of the right moves was hooking up with T Bone for Look Up, and now for this one, which I’m calling Long Long Road, because I’ve been on a long long road.”
Regarding covering a song previously recorded by Perkins, Ringo noted, “I recorded two Carl Perkins songs with The Beatles, and both T Bone and I wanted one on this record, and he found this beautiful track I’d never heard before, ‘I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore’.”
About Starr’s Collaborators on ‘Long Long Road’
Tuttle and Billy Strings were among the guest contributors to Look Up who are also featured on Long Long Road. Sheryl Crow and St. Vincent lent their talents to Starr’s new album as well.
Meanwhile, a variety of respected Nashville session musicians who contributed to Look Up also played on Long Long Road. Among them are pedal-steel guitarist Paul Franklin, bassist Dennis Crouch, guitarist Colin Linden, and multi-instrumentalists Daniel Tashian and Rory Hoffman.
Burnett has christened the group of returning musicians The Texans. The name was taken from a skiffle band Ringo played in in his hometown of Liverpool in 1959.
T Bone said about getting to collaborate with Starr, “I’ve loved Ringo’s playing and his singing for my whole life.” Burnett explained that when Starr asked him to write a song for him, “I wrote him a Gene Autry type song because I always heard Ringo as a Texas artist, the way he played felt just like Texas music to me.”
He added, “Ringo Starr is a recording artist of the highest caliber, and I wanted to surround him with these young masters, bringing in some of this extraordinary young energy that’s happening around Nashville for both of these records.”
Starr’s 2026 Tour Plans
As previously reported, Ringo has a late-spring 2026 tour lined up with his All Starr Band. The 12-date trek will visit venues in the Western U.S. The outing kicks off May 28 in Temecula, California, and is plotted out through a June 14 show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. The tour also will stop in three other California cities, as well as in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico.
‘Long Long Road’ Track List:
Side One
- “Returning Without Tears”
- “Baby Don’t Go”
- “I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore”
- “It’s Been Too Long”
- “Why”
Side Two
- “You And I (Wave Of Love)”
- “My Baby Don’t Want Nothing”
- “Choose Love”
- “She’s Gone”
- “Long Long Road”
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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