On July 7th, former Beatle Ringo Starr will turn 70 years old—and starting on that day the Metropolitan Museum of Art will display his gold-plated snare drum in a special exhibition running through December.
According to 1010Wins, "the instrument was presented to the drummer by the Ludwig Drum Company in Chicago during the Beatles' 1964 U.S. tour. It was given to him in appreciation for popularizing the Ludwig name." (Where was John Bonham's golden drum?!) On the Beatles 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Ringo played a black pearl Ludwig drum set (FWIW, Bonham made the Ludwig Vistalite drums popular when he was kicking ass on tour with Led Zeppelin.)
A performance by Starr at the Met for "Live From the Artists Den" will also air the week of his birthday.
