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Ringo Starr celebrates 75th birthday with "Peace and Love"

LOS ANGELES -- Baby boomers got the latest reminder Tuesday that time is marching on. And a drummer provided the beat.

Ringo Starr -- the oldest of The Beatles, the enduring symbol of our youth -- turned 75.

Under a giant card on L.A.'s Capitol Records building, Ringo was serenaded as he blew out the candles. The guest of honor seemed spry as ever.

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Musician Ringo Starr speaks during a "Peace & Love" event to celebrate his 75th birthday in Los Angeles, California, July 7, 2015. REUTERS

"It's Ringo's 75th birthday. And he's 35," the Eagles' Joe Walsh put it.

Ringo: "We loved the idea of being in America" 03:04

As The Beatles impish drummer, he provided the backbeat for a tectonic shift in popular culture. When we first met him in 1964, he already had the nickname, "Ringo":

He was born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, England. As a boy, young Richie got an infection that put him in a coma.On his seventh birthday, he was in the hospital -- and doctors didn't expect him to survive.

In 1962, an ambitious Liverpool group needed a new drummer. John, Paul and George picked Ringo -- and the greatest band in history was complete.

Two years later, they took The Ed Sullivan Show -- and America -- by storm. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" would spend seven weeks at the top of the charts.

The Beatles: From Ed Sullivan to Beatlemania 03:26

"And so, it was like one of those magic moments," Starr recalled in 2014. "We landed and it was all perfect. We were number 1 and the kids loved us. And we loved the idea of being in America. I had never been to America."

He's been a household name ever since.

For his birthday, at the stroke of noon, Ringo asked the crowd to shout out his motto: "Peace and Love!"

Proving that at 75, all you still need is peace & love.

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