What happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow?

What happened to Ringo Starr’s left eyebrow?

Introduction

The Beatles are considered by many to be the greatest rock band in the history of music.

With smash hits such as Let it Be, Hey Jude, Come Together, Help, All You Need is Love, Penny Lane, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and so, so many more, it’s as clear as day that The Beatles were a hugely special, and highly influential band.

Made up of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr, the band who once referred to themselves as ‘more popular than Jesus’ revolutionized the music industry in the 1960s.

Each member of the group was interesting and unique in their own ways, none more so than Ringo Starr.

Eagle-eyed fans of Ringo have noticed how his left eyebrow looks misshapen, thin, and just generally unusual, but why?

What happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow?

Who is Ringo Starr?

Ringo Starr, also known as Sir Richard Starkey, was born on July 7, 1940, in Liverpool, England.

Ringo is a drummer, singer, songwriter, author, and voice actor who is best known for being the drummer with The Beatles, arguably the greatest rock band in the history of the music industry.

Starr was primarily the drummer, though occasionally, he would provide lead vocals for the band.

Typically, for every album the group released, Ringo would be the lead vocalist on one song.

As well as recognizing his voice from the band, people may also recognize his voice from the children’s TV show Thomas the Tank Engine, for which he was the narrator.

If you saw Ringo Starr out in public today, you’d be forgiven for assuming he was still in his 40s, rather than his 80s, as the man looks incredible.

Ringo, despite his age, goes to the gym regularly, watches what he eats, and leads a healthy lifestyle.

What’s even more remarkable is the fact that, for much of his early life, he was so unhealthy and unwell.

As a youngster, Ringo was afflicted with a number of illnesses and ailments, which could help provide the answer to what happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow.

What illnesses did Ringo Starr have?

Before we can look at what happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow, we need to go back in time to his childhood.

Ringo was not a healthy child growing up, and he was afflicted with a whole bunch of illnesses and health issues from a young age.

He suffered from peritonitis along with appendicitis, and even tuberculosis, or TB for short.

When he was 13, Ringo was struck down with TB and was forced to spend two years recovering in a medical facility.

He nearly died, and when he was finally released, he could barely speak or function, and was incredibly weak and malnourished.

Despite being so young, Ringo has grey streaks in his hair, and on his left eyebrow because of his ill health.

In his early twenties, Ringo was forced to conceal his grey eyebrow and grey streak in his hair which he concealed with a hat.

For his eyebrow, he would use makeup.

Despite concealing his grey, Ringo was very open about concealing it with makeup and would happily discuss it with the press.

What happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow?

So, what happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow? As we’ve now discovered, Ringo’s grey and misshapen eyebrow was not caused by premature aging, but rather by illness. But which illness? Was it the TB? Appendicitis, or any of the other illnesses he suffered when growing up? Well, possibly. While it is not official, many have speculated that the most likely cause of Starr’s grey eyebrow was Poliosis.

Poliosis is a condition characterized by a single grey or white patch appearing on an otherwise healthy and colorful head of hair.

Poliosis occurs due to a lack of a pigment known as melanin, from a small area of hair follicles.

It is likely, that he had this on one part of his head, and of course, on his left eyebrow.

As far as what causes Poliosis, it can be caused by any number of things.

Sometimes other illnesses can trigger it, which is likely with Ringo considering he was such a sickly child, though it can also be genetic, or caused stress and/or pain, which can also trigger flare-ups.

Considering Ringo first started experiencing these symptoms when he was in the hospital recovering from TB, it’s likely that illness was the trigger.

Did Ringo always try hiding his eyebrow?

Despite hiding his grey eyebrow early on in his career, as he became more famous and comfortable in front of audiences, he began embracing his unique eyebrow.

From 1964, Ringo would often not bother disguising his eyebrow with makeup and was often spotted sporting one dark eyebrow and one grey eyebrow, which was barely visible in certain lights.

As fame and the rock and roll lifestyle took hold of Starr, however, he succumbed to the vices that go with it and would drink heavily, party, use drugs, and would suffer from addiction and mental health disorders as a result.

While in Monaco in 1976, Starr suffered a very public mental breakdown and, after drinking far too much alcohol, and using various substances, he would shave his hair off completely, along with his eyebrows.

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How is Ringo looking nowadays?

Fortunately, after his breakdown, Ringo decided to clean up his act, and he stopped using drugs and drinking, and began looking after himself.

Today, aged 82, Ringo goes to the gym 5, 6, or even 7 times a week.

He states that he doesn’t smoke anymore or drink, and that he is a vegetarian and likes to eat broccoli, blueberries, and other superfoods to help him be healthy, feel better, and look better.

Starr is in great shape, his hair is dark (almost certainly dyed), and he looks decades younger.

As far as his eyebrow goes, as Ringo is rarely seen in public without a pair of sunglasses on, we don’t actually know how it looks, but we’d wager it looks great.

So, what happened to Ringo Starr’s eyebrow? Well, now we know.

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