Ex-Beatle Ringo Starr: 'God is in my life'

Former Beatles member Ringo Starr says he’s been on a search for God for the past five decades – though there were many years when he “stepped off the path”.

And now, at the age of 69, he says God is in his life.

"I feel the older I get, the more I'm learning to handle life," Starr told The Los Angeles Times during a recent visit to the Grammy Museum in downtown LA.

"I think [spiritual issues] are more prominent," added Starr, who turns 70 in July and recently released a new album, titled Y Not.

And some of the conclusions he’s drawn so far from having been on the “quest for a long time” are that “it’s all about finding yourself” and that “God is in my life”.

“I don't hide from that,” he said regarding his latter realization.

Notably, however, while working on his new album, one song that Starr originally intended to be a "gospelly" song, “Walk With You”, eventually became a song about the power of friendship rather than a “God song” after songwriter Van Dyke Parks reportedly said he did not write about God.

Other tracks on Starr’s new album include "Fill in the Blanks", "The Other Side of Liverpool", "Time", "Everyone Wins", "Mystery of the Night", "Can't Do It Wrong", "Y Not", and "Who's Your Daddy".

Also on the album is the song "Peace Dream" – Starr’s version of John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Unlike “Imagine”, however, the world of peace Starr envisions in “Peace Dream” doesn’t require “no religion”, as Lennon’s world did.