What if The Beatles never were? Ringo Starr almost moved to U.S. at 18

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Almost 50 years ago, Beatlemania kicked off in America and changed the face of rock 'n' roll. But the whole Beatles phenomenon as we know it — with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — might never have happened without some good old-fashioned U.S. red tape.

Starr revealed to NBC News' Kate Snow in an interview that aired Monday on TODAY that while still a teenager, he considered chasing his musical dreams in Texas, not his hometown of Liverpool. "All the music we loved came from America," he recalled. "At ... 18, 19 I tried to immigrate to America because of Lightnin' Hopkins, a blues singer," he recalled. "I wanted to go to Texas because that's where he was from." A factory worker at the time, Starr visited the local consulate to start the emigration process, but the paperwork proved overwhelming. "They gave me a load of forms to fill in. And I filled those in. You know what it's like when you're 18 ... I filled 'em in, took 'em back, and then he gave me more forms," he said. "I gave up."