* AudienceAlienatingEra: The albums Ringo recorded between 1976 and 1983 sold poorly, were hated by critics, and are mostly ignored when putting together compilation albums.
* AudienceAlienatingPremise: His first solo single was 1970's "Beaucoups of Blues". It and the album for which it was the TitleTrack both sold poorly, because Beatles fans weren't interested in hearing him do CountryMusic, while country fans, especially in the era before Music/WillieNelson and Music/WaylonJennings popularized the "{{outlaw|CountryMusic}}" movement, had zero interest in hearing a Beatle do country.
* AwardSnub: Music/JohnLennon, Music/PaulMcCartney, and Music/GeorgeHarrison were all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for their solo careers in 1994, 1999, and 2004 respectively, in addition to Music/TheBeatles being inducted as a group in 1988. Ringo as a solo artist was not inducted for a long time, finally being awarded in 2015. Although even there, he was given the "Award for Musical Excellence," which is generally given to side men.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** Ringo believes the drumming he did on the Beatles song "Rain" is the best he ever recorded, and it's hard to disagree with him (though his work on "She Said, She Said" and "A Day in the Life" stands out as well).
** A lesser-known fan favorite among his solo work is "$15 Draw" on ''Beaucoups Of Blues'', partly because of the memorable acoustic guitar picking of Jerry Reed (who's also heard counting off the song at the beginning), and partly because Ringo does a good job selling the lyrics about a small-time traveling nightclub musician examining the ups and downs of his life and his relationships with his family, obviously reminding him of his own experiences with Rory Storm and The Beatles earlier in his career.
* BrokenBase:
** Right from the early days in Liverpool when he replaced [[ThePeteBest Pete Best]], resulting in brawls between Pete's many fangirls and those who preferred him. The argument now is more about his exact level of skill, since, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on who you ask]], he ranks anywhere from "the best and most influential drummer in music history" all the way down to "[[BornLucky a fortunate no-talent who got scooped up by the other three at the last possible second because he was there]]."[[note]]The release of several of the Decca Records audition tape songs on ''Anthology 1'', which showed that Best wasn't all that great of a drummer, helped lift Ringo's reputation a bit[[/note]]
** Musicologists and musicians tend to agree that Ringo was a good drummer, on the grounds of his mastery of subtle things like tempo and timbre control; he was ''constantly'' retuning and messing with his kit in order to get different sounds out of it, he always tailored his part for each song, and while drummers in popular culture are expected to be crazy cool, Ringo disliked showing off. He only has one drum solo in the entire Beatles discography, on [[Music/AbbeyRoad "The End"]], and even then he had to be persuaded to take it. The reason why the general public isn't unanimously agreed that he was a good drummer is that these are not the kind of drumming skills that impress non-musicians.
* CantUnHearIt: Ringo can't open his mouth to say literally anything for the rest of his life without an entire generation hearing it as a ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' story.
* CoveredUp:
** "The No-No Song", by Hoyt Axton originally.
** From his Beatle days, "Act Naturally" (originally sung by Buck Owens) and "Boys" (a girl-group song by the Shirelles!).
** Johnny Burnette's original of "You're Sixteen" was a big hit, but Ringo's version hit #1 and the song seems to be associated with him more these days.
* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Ringo was by far, the most popular Beatle in America. John once stated that he got more fanmail than the other three combined, [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons and Marge Simpson used to have a crush on him.]]
* HarsherInHindsight: "I'm the Greatest", which John Lennon wrote for Ringo's first solo album, contains the lyrics, "I looked in the mirror / I saw my wife and kids / And you know what they told me, I was great." It's adorable and upbeat until you read about how [[TearJerker Ringo's marriage crashed and burned only a few years later]].
%%* MemeticBadass
* MemeticMutation:
** His infamous video in which he announces that he would no longer be accepting any fan mail has done the rounds as a copypasta, as is inferring "I'm warning you with peace and love" as an ImpliedDeathThreat.
** [[Music/TheWhiteAlbum "AUH GOT BLISTARS ON MAH FINGARZ!!"]]
** His first Tweet (apparently the result of dictating into voice-recording software) [[https://twitter.com/ringostarrmusic/status/215194605128392705?s=20&t=DcI42e1yaKMSuHan6f41tg has to be read to be believed.]]
* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Many fans adore him simply ''because'' he's not as mainstream as John and Paul, though he has his share of detractors. Other fans love him because he's easily the most humble and approachable of the group. John, Paul, and even George are these epic gods of rock, while Ringo is the sort of guy you'd like to hang out and have a beer with.
%%* TearJerker: "Photograph", particularly after George Harrison died.
%%* TheWoobie
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