Lee Starkey

Lee Parkin Starkey is The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr daughter with his first wife Maureen Starkey. She was born in London, at Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital on November 11th 1970. She has two older brothers, drummer Zak Starkey and musician/photographer Jason Starkey. The Starkeys separated in 1974 and divorced in 1975. Maureen got custody of the children while Starr was allowed visitation rights. On April 27, 1981, Starr remarried to actress Barbara Bach. Lee was one of the bridesmaids along with new step-sister, Francesca Gregorini. During the rest of the 1980s, Starkey continued on with school however she had a problem with what career she wanted to do in life. After leaving King Alfred's School in Hampstead at the age of 16 with no qualifications, she worked for a time at Tower Records and enrolled briefly in drama school, but dropped out after not liking it. She enrolled in a make up artist school and even though she managed to get her diploma, she didn't like it either. She worked at Tower Records and A Hard Rock Cafe, which was owned by her step-father, Isaac Tigrett. She also co-starred in a car commercial with her father. As a teenager, Lee was into the punk/goth scene and dressed in black and dyed her hair purple. In 1991 with friend Christian Paris, Lee opened a clothes boutique called Planet Alice in Melrose Avenue (Los Angeles), which specialized in 1960s clothes. But it close within a year. Starkey continued as a fashion designer after the shop's closure but her career came to a stand still within a couple of years due to unfortunate events in her personal life. In 1994, she rushed to her mother's side when was diagnosed with leukemia. Starkey stayed with her mother, taking care of her. On December 30, 1994, Starkey was at her mother's bedside when she passed away. In August of 1995, Starkey collapsed in England and was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with brain tumor. She had previously had numbness in her leg and arm, however luckily, the tumor was curable. She was transferred to a hospital in the United States to continue on with her treatments. Within three weeks she was undergoing a second operation at Brigham Women's Hospital, Boston, and this time for a tumor. She was then given radiation treatment. In 1998, she sang backup vocals on "La De Da" on Ringo's "Vertical Man." In 2001, the tumor returned and she went back for more treatments. At this time, she is in the clear. Shee lives in London and is a make up artist and a fledging fashion designer. Since 2006 she's dating ex-Kasabian and Beady Eye guitarist Jay Mehler, and in 2009 she gave birth to triplets, two boys Smokey and Jakamo, and one girl, Ruby Tiger.