Maureen Cox Starkey (August 4, 1946 – December 30, 1994) was the wife of Beatle drummer, Richard Starkey (a.k.a. Ringo Starr). They married in 1965 and divorced in 1975. The couple had three children, Zak, Jason, and Lee. Jump to: navigation, search August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Jump to: navigation, search December 30 is the 364th day of the year (365th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 1 day remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Beatles were a British pop and rock group from Liverpool. ... A drummer is a musician who plays the drums, particularly the drum kit, marching percussion, or hand drums. ... Ringo Starr Richard Starkey, MBE (born July 7, 1940) is best known by his stage name, Ringo Starr, as the drummer for The Beatles from August 16, 1962 (when he replaced Pete Best) until their breakup in 1970. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search 1975 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... Young Zak with the legendary Who drummer Keith Moon Zak Starkey (born September 13, 1965) is the current rock & roll drummer of the famous Britpop band Oasis. ... Lee Parkin Starkey, born November 11, 1970, is the daughter of Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey - Beatles drummer) and his late ex-wife, Maureen Cox Starkey. ...

Maureen Starkey was a hairdresser at the time she was sixteen and like many teenagers in Liverpool, she was interested in Merseybeat sound. Maureen was a regular at the Cavern club where the newest band, The Beatles were playing. One day the hairdresser spotted Ringo on the street and chased after him. She was able to get Starr's autograph; he wrote his license number on the paper as well. Paul McCartney, however, was the first Beatle Cox kissed. Her friend made a bet saying that she couldn't kiss Paul, but Maureen was determined to win. Fighting her way backstage, Cox went right up to McCartney and kissed him (while her friend burst into tears, thinking that Cox wasn't up to the dare). Meanwhile, Cox waited for Starr to come out, for she still liked him best. She went up and kissed him as well. Jump to: navigation, search The Beatles were a British pop and rock group from Liverpool. ...

It was still three weeks later until Ringo took any notice of her. Once he did, they went out regularly together, often with a friend of Cox. This friend was in the way, but Cox didnÕt want to offend her by telling her she couldnÕt come along. Although Cox was dating Starr, she would still go to Cavern performances to watch the Beatles. It was getting more and more dangerous for her to go. As Cox recalled in 1967:

(The girls) used to hang around the Cavern all day long, just on the off chance of seeing them. They'd come out of the lunchtime session and just stand outside all afternoon, queuing up for the evening. Ritchie and I once went past at midnight and they were already queuing up for the next day....The object was to get as near the front row as possible, so that they could see the Beatles, and be seen. I never joined the queue till about two or three hours before the Cavern opened. It frightened me. There would be fights and rows among the girls. When the doors opened the first ones would tear in, knocking each other over. TheyÕd keep their rollers in and jeans on for the first groups. Then when it got near the time for the Beatles to come on, if there was a gang of four say, they would go off in turns to the lavatory with their little cases to get changed and made up. So when the Beatles came on theyÕd look smashing, as if theyÕd just arrived...They were obviously dying to be noticed and get to know one of them. But no, it was really just everything about being there. It was terrible, the mad screams when they came on...."

Cox's life was at stake once some of the fans figured out that she was dating Ringo. She was almost killed once and regularly beaten up by the girls. But their relationship would end for some time, since The Beatles were about to become famous. Cox visited Starr when his tonsils were taken out, and their relationship began again.

At this point, Cox wasn't well known in the press. That was until she went on holiday with Starr, Paul McCartney, and his girlfriend, Jane Asher. Cox, afraid her parents would object, went on this holiday without her parents knowing. When her name was all over the British tabloids, they knew where she was. Maureen's father, Joe Cox, 1964:

"It really did not surprise my wife or myself when we learned she was half way across the world. In any case it wouldn't have made any difference. I would have given her permission anyway. Maureen is a sensible girl and well able to take care of herself."

Although not well-liked by the fans, Cox answered many of Starr's mail from his female admirers. Parents would write back thanking her for being so nice to their daughters.

The 18-year-old Cox married Ringo Starr on February 11, 1965. Their first child, Zak Starkey, was born on September 13, 1965 (followed by Jason on August 19, 1967 and Lee on November 17, 1970 ).During this time, Cox was still a part of Ringo's life, even though their marriage was strained. She sang backup vocals on The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill and also was the only Beatle wife in attendance at the rooftop concert in 1969. Jump to: navigation, search Ringo Starr as photographed by John Kelly for the 1968 LP The Beatles (aka The White Album). Richard Starkey, MBE (born July 7, 1940), known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is a popular British musician, best known as drummer for The Beatles. ... Young Zak with the legendary Who drummer Keith Moon Zak Starkey (born September 13, 1965) is the current rock & roll drummer of the famous Britpop band Oasis. ...

When the Beatles broke up in 1970, so did the Starkey marriage. Ringo's infidelities were increasing even more, his alcoholism becoming more of a problem. To make matters worse, when the Starrs were visiting George and Pattie Harrison, George said how much he loved Maureen. Rumors have persisted that this fateful evening led to the breakup of the Harrisons' and Starrs' marriages. Jump to: navigation, search Polish propaganda poster saying: Stop drinking! Come with us and build a happy tomorrow. ... Jump to: navigation, search Pattie Boyd with George Harrison George and Pattie in A Hard Days Night Patricia Anne Pattie Boyd (born 17 March 1945 in Hampstead, London, England), model and photographer, is best known as the wife of two famous rock musicians and the possible inspiration for several...

With all of the marriage problems the couple faced, Maureen Starkey didn't want a divorce. Her husband, however, persisted that they should be divorced. Maureen unwillingly accepted. On July 17, 1975, the divorce was finalized on the grounds of Ringo's affair with an American model, Nancy Andrews.

She married Isaac Tigrett, of Hard Rock Cafe fame, in 1989. Isaac Tigrett (born 1947) is a native of Jackson, Tennessee. ... A Hard Rock Cafe sign in Chicago, Illinois The Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain was founded by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, two Americans, on June 14, 1971. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Maureen died in 1994 of leukemia despite a bone marrow transplant from her son Zak. Jump to: navigation, search 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Jump to: navigation, search Leukemia (leukaemia in Commonwealth English) is a group of blood diseases characterized by malignancies (cancer) of the blood-forming tissues. ...