How The Beatles found their drummer at a Lincolnshire Butlin's
BBC News explores a little-known but crucial chapter in The Beatles' history, detailing the band's search for a drummer and their eventual discovery of Ringo Starr at a Butlin's in Skegness, Lincolnshire.
Ringo Starr joined The Beatles in 1962 while performing at Butlin's in Skegness.
By Karl Bird and Jay Vydelingum, In Skegness and East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Published 18 October 2026
A Lincolnshire holiday camp played a pivotal role in the band's formation. Young, bearded Ringo Starr was performing with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes when Paul McCartney and John Lennon arrived to recruit him.
- Bobby Thomson, a bassist in the Hurricanes, recalls the duo's arrival.
- "I think that was the whole idea... to invite him to join the Beatles," he says.
A few weeks later, Starr received a call from Beatles manager Brian Epstein, inviting him to join the group.
Starr's recall: "The boys would like you to join The Beatles. What do you say? I said, 'no, I'd love to, when?' And he said, 'oh, tonight'. I said, 'I can't... I'm in a band, I'll come Saturday'."
Epstein also instructed Starr to lose his facial hair, which he did, getting a haircut to match.
Madeline Morrison, a Redcoat at the Clacton camp, recalls the rumours spreading among Butlin's guests.
- "Rory Storm was a big, big name... He's joining them. You know, all this sort of stuff would jump round all the camps."
Starr's departure left the Hurricanes with a temporary drummer for the remaining two weeks of the summer season.
Another celebrity with connections to Butlin's, Johnny Ball, remembered occasionally playing the drums for Starr during his day off.
Soon after joining the Fab Four, Starr contributed to their first UK hit single, Love Me Do, and the rest is history.