On Oct. 13, 2008, Ringo Starr stunned fans by announcing he would no longer sign fan mail.
In a 43-second video message, the legendary Beatles drummer told fans he had a “serious message” to relay. He then gave fans one week’s notice as he told them directly, “With peace and love, I want to tell you, after the 20th of October, do not send fan mail to any address that you have.”
“Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October,” the music icon added. “If that is the date on the envelope, it’s going to be tossed. I’m warning you with peace and love. I have too much to do, so no more fan mail. And no objects to be signed. Nothing! Anyway, peace and love, peace and love.”
At the time, Starr received backlash from many who felt he seemed unappreciative of his fans. He soon issued a statement to Rolling Stone to explain that he was tired of seeing items with his autograph being peddled online.
“[The fan mail ban] is in direct response to an inordinate amount of items which have recently appeared for sale on eBay, and to those that repeatedly send cards and items to be signed,” he explained, before adding that his video message wasn’t directed at his “real fans.”
Ten years later, Starr appeared on Sirius XM’s Howard Stern Show and explained that the last straw came after he signed some guitar scratch plates. The legendary musician found out that someone screwed one of the signed scratch plates onto a junky guitar and was selling it for three thousand dollars because it had his name on it.
“So I only sign for charity now, mainly my charity and [my wife] Barbara’s charity,” he explained.
Nearly 20 years after Starr’s fan mail ban, fans still talk about it. Some joke about being warned by Starr with “peace and love.”
“I been tossed with peace and love,” one commenter wrote on Instagram.
“The fan mail game was changed forever after this,” another noted.
In a Reddit thread, one fan wanted to know, “Did anyone send Ringo fan mail after the 20th of October? Did he respond?”
“I sent Ringo fan mail a week or two before the deadline and still haven’t heard back… 14 years later. Any day now!” another fan cracked.
Starr’s Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney also commented on the situation.
“I love it, “ McCartney said on Stern’s show. “You’ve got to love Ringo. The thing is, you know Ringo was always like that. He was the one if fans came to his door, he just said, ‘P— off. This is my private life. Out there I’m a Beatle, that’s fine, but I’m at home with babies and a wife, I don’t want that.’ And I think it’s very brave of Ringo to just go you know, ‘Peace and love, peace and love. I’m not going to sign.'”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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