Look Up (Universal Nashville, 2025)

Going out on a limb, Ringo Starr's "Look Up" will be one of the most significant country albums of 2025. It likely won't get much airplay on country radio, or win any CMA or ACM Awards, but it is terrific.

After all, it's Ringo, ably guided by T Bone Burnett, who wrote/co-wrote most of the songs, plays guitar, and produced the album. Plus, the supporting musical cast is full of A-listers, including Burnett, Molly Tuttle, Billy Strings, Alison Krauss and more.

"Look Up" is Ringo's first all-country album since "Beaucoup of Blues" in the early '70s. Even at 84, Ringo is in great voice throughout. Check out "Can You Hear Me Call," a stellar duet with Tuttle, or the more straight-ahead country tunes, "Thankful" and "Time On My Hands." "Come Back" has the feel of a '60s-era country ballad, complete with a very retro-sounding set of background vocals. All the tunes here are B-plus or better and fit well with Ringo's vocal style. No real vocal stretches here.

Perhaps the one disappointment is that there are stellar guest artists, like Strings, Krauss, Lucious and Larken Poe, but often it's very difficult to hear their specific vocal contributions and know that it is them. They might as well be unknown backup singers and players. One more bright note is that Ringo plays drums on all of the cuts.

It's always satisfying when a musical legend charts a new path, rather than simply falling back on what made him an icon. That's what Ringo (and T Bone) have done with "Look Up."