Ringo Starr has released a new song called "It’s Been Too Long," featuring Molly Tuttle and Sarah Jarosz. This is the first single from his forthcoming album Long Long Road (dropping on April 24), co-written and produced by T Bone Burnett, the 10-song album also includes collaborations with Billy Strings, Sheryl Crow and St Vincent and is the highly anticipated follow-up to last year’s chart topping Look Up.
“I’m blessed to have T Bone in my life right now and working with me on these records,” Ringo stated. “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.”
Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles, this record sees the return of many of the Look Up musicians including the core band (that T Bone affectionately dubs The Texans after the 1959 band Ringo played with in Liverpool) featuring Paul Franklin, David Mansfield, Dennis Crouch, Daniel Tashian, Rory Hoffman, Patrick Warren and Colin Linden.
“I've loved Ringo’s playing and his singing for my whole life,” T Bone stated. “And then one night we were at a poetry reading together and he said, why don't you write a song for me? So 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. 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.”
Their first collaboration, Look Up, released January 10, 2025, brought overwhelming success and acclaim. It was Ringo’s first Country record in 50 years, and it earned him his first Top 10 on Billboard’s all genre Top Album Sales chart, as well as landing him on multiple other Billboard Charts. In the UK, the album reached a significant career milestone garnering him his first solo #1 album on the Official Country Chart.
In February 2025 Starr made his Grand Ole Opry debut after being invited by Emmylou Harris during the first of his two-night run at the legendary Ryman, which was recorded for a 2-hour special still streaming on CBS/Paramount Plus.
