Sir Ringo Starr saw an opportunity and he took it during his Monday night appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, saying with a grin upon his introduction, “Nice to see you. We’re all zooming in.”

Starr, 80, is gearing up for the release of his new EP, Zoom In, which holds multiple meanings in the age of COVID-19.

The rocker admits he’s had his fair share of virtual meetings, but the one thing that he finds more exhausting is his inability to tour.

“I want to play! I want to play live. I want to be with the audience. And that was not going to happen,” he lamented. “In March, I canceled the tour and I said, ‘Don’t worry, next year, I’m going to do the exact same tour, the same venues, everything!’ And, of course, that’s not going to happen. So, I won’t be going on tour till next year.”

The former Beatles drummer added that the pandemic has brought on “a few downer days” because his life is on pause.  

“In February, I went shopping for clothes for the two tours I was going to do last year, and [they’re] still hanging up,” remarked Starr.

The Grammy winner added that he is more than ready to hit the road, though, as he revealed on Colbert that when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccines, “I’ve had both of them!”

But when Colbert joked that he could possibly hit the road safely, Starr quipped, “I’m not going to be there if people are in masks, no connection, six feet apart.”

He hearkened back to dropping his signature “peace and love” mantra at Sunday’s Grammys, to which he frowned over the audience’s lack of a response.

Zoom In, which was recorded during the pandemic, drops Friday.

By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.