Ringo Starr celebrated his 77th birthday Friday with a call for more love in the world on a song from a new album that will feature Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney.

The former Beatles drummer announced that "Peace and Love," his 19th studio album, will come out on September 15 and include collaborations with McCartney as well as other major names in rock.

Starr released a first song, "Give More Love," a pop track whose uplifting chorus has echoes of Beatles classics but with heavier guitar.

Keeping a birthday tradition, Starr encouraged fans around the world to meet up and collectively offer a two-finger peace sign, with the ex-Beatle himself appearing in Los Angeles outside the headquarters of his label Capitol Records.

The peace motif harks back to the hippie era of the 1960s when The Beatles embraced the message of non-violence -- a theme especially dear to late bandmates John Lennon and George Harrison.

McCartney is credited on two songs on "Peace and Love," marking a reunion of all living members of history's top-selling pop group and the pair's first recording together since Starr's 2010 album "Y Not."

Starr, who recorded "Peace and Love" at his home studio in Los Angeles, first revealed the collaboration in February when he tweeted a picture of himself embracing McCartney and thanked him for coming to play bass.

Starr on "Peace and Love" also enlisted several songwriters who worked with him on his last album, 2015's "Postcards from Paradise."

They include Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh, Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics, soft rock singer Richard Marx and Toto guitarist and prolific session musician Steve Lukather.

Starr plans eight shows in October at a Las Vegas casino followed by a short US tour.

source: AFP