In the 1960s, rock stars seemed untouchable. They carried an air of mystery, a kind of magic that made them larger than life. The Beatles, Bowie, Joplin — they weren’t just musicians, they were cultural landmarks. Fans could project their dreams onto them, imagining them as effortlessly charming, eternally youthful, and always ready with a witty remark.
Todd Rundgren was one of those dreamers. Growing up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, he taught himself guitar and set his sights on creating music as impactful as the Fab Four’s. But the magic of an idol can be fragile — and for Rundgren, meeting The Beatles in person chipped away at that childhood wonder.
Over the years, Rundgren crossed paths with each member. The reality wasn’t always flattering.
“Ringo was the most approachable of all of The Beatles,” he told Classic Rock. “Paul McCartney was unusually dour, and John was totally drunk and inanimate. George I met very briefly while producing a Badfinger album.”
The encounters left him underwhelmed. The joyful, quick-witted group he’d seen in A Hard Day’s Night and Help! seemed weighed down by the aftershocks of fame. Rundgren even softened in his praise of their music, saying, “You expected cleverness and a happy-go-lucky demeanour because of the image they projected up until the point they broke up.”
In his eyes, Ringo stood apart. Without the crushing expectations that followed the others, Starr still radiated warmth. “The only one who seemed to have recovered from any of the effects of that was Ringo. He did the music for fun. He didn’t feel that there was some burden to it… I never saw him having any pretence that he was building some giant musical legacy.”
For Rundgren, the drummer was proof that sometimes, the least complicated Beatle was also the most genuine.
