On this date in 1962, Ringo Starr played his first concert with The Beatles

Throughout the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, Starr was drumming for one of Liverpool’s leading bands, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, which is where he got the stage name Ringo Starr, based on his rings and the country and western implication.

Eventually, in 1960 the band agreed to a residency in Hamburg that they had initially turned down. This residency led to them performing at the Kaiserkeller alongside The Beatles, introducing Starr to his future band. He performed as stand-in for them on several instances from 1960 to 1962. On the 14th August 1962, John Lennon officially invited Starr to join the band, which he promptly accepted. Two days later, Pete Best was fired as drummer.

On the 18th, Starr made his debut with The Beatles, at a horticultural society dance at the Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight. Starr’s first few months were plagued by unhappy Best fans, with loud protesting and one fan going as far as to give him a black eye. By November, however, he had been widely accepted by most fans, ahead of the band’s meteoric rise.