“Taylor is the ‘now’ one. We are the ‘still now’”: Ringo Starr has his say on people comparing Taylor Swift to The Beatles

Calling an artist or band ‘the biggest since the Beatles’ has been a thing for as long as The Beatles became a thing themselves, and Taylor Swift has had that label attached to her several times over the past few years.

Back in 2021, for example, no lesser authority than Billy Joel called Swift “that generation’s Beatles,” and now Ringo Starr himself has responded to an interviewer who made the comparison.

“Do you think what’s happening with Taylor Swift could be the closest thing to Bealemania for this generation?” asked Katherine Yeske Taylor for American Songwriter.

“I do,” replied Starr. “I think Taylor Swift is great anyway, and she’s pulling them in.”

The cultural noise surrounding Swift’s Eras Tour, which will finally conclude later this year, has been almost as big as the number of people she’s played to, but Starr revealed that he first met when she was 14, backstage with her mother at the Grammy Awards.

He isn’t quite ready to hand over The Beatles baton to her completely, though. “Taylor is the ‘now’ one. We are the ‘still now,’” he explained.

It would be hard to argue with that. Whether Swift will still be part of the conversation in 50 years time as much as The Beatles are today remains to be seen.