Who is Lee Starkey?
A fashion designer and make-up artist, Lee Parkin Starkey, was born under the zodiac sign of Scorpio on 11 November 1970, at Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital, in London, England; she holds British nationality, and her ethnicity is of Irish descent. She is only known as the daughter of The Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (Sir Richard Starkey), and his ex-wife Maureen Cox-Starkey.
Early life, family, and education
Lee was raised alongside her brothers Zak and Jason, living with both of their parents until they separated in 1974, and divorced in 1975, so their mother, Maureen, gained custody of the children, and Ringo was allowed visitation rights.
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Ringo agreed to pay Maureen a one-off payment of £125,000 (around $170,000) and £23,000 (around $31,000) per year plus £2,500 (around $3,400) per year for each of their children. There is no information about Ringo’s net worth at that time, but according to sources, he’s today the wealthiest drummer in the world; his net worth, as of early 2022, has been estimated at $350 million.
According to sources, the reason for their divorce was Ringo’s affair with American model Nancy Lee Andrews, and also his alcoholism; Maureen was devastated after their divorce, became depressed, and even tried to commit suicide by crashing into a brick wall on her motorcycle.
Maureen Starkey was a hairdresser, and was in a marriage with Ringo for ten years; later, in 1989, she married Isaac Tigrett, an American businessman, known best as the co-founder of House of Blues and Hard Rock Café. They had one daughter together, namely Augusta King Tigrett, and Lee had a strong bond with her half-sister.
Ringo married actress Barbara Bach in 1981, who had a daughter from her first marriage, and Lee and her new step-sister, Francesca Gregorini, were bridesmaids at their parents’ wedding.
Speaking about Lee’s educational background, she attended King Alfred’s School, in Hampstead, London, but left when she was 16, and worked at Tower Records for a while, eventually enrolling in drama school, but soon dropped out, saying that she didn’t like it.
Lee then enrolled at a make-up artist school, and although she earned her diploma, she didn’t like this either, so continued working in Tower Records, and then in Hard Rock Café, owned by her step-father.
When she was a teenager, Lee was rebellious, liked the punk-goth scene, dressed in all black, and dyed her hair purple.
Career
Lee wanted to have a life without being in the shadow of her famous father and to be known as herself, not as the daughter of Ringo Starr. She opened a boutique in London, but her mother advised her to come to the US.
In the early ‘90s, she moved to Los Angeles, California and alongside her friend Christian Paris, opened a boutique called Planet Alice, specializing in the 1960s clothes, At the official opening of the store, there were her parents, her stepmother Barbara, and her stepfather Isaac to support her.
The boutique was located on Melrose Avenue, however, it wasn’t that successful, so after a year they had to close it. Without a job, Lee moved into her mother’s and stepfather’s house in Beverly Hills, where her brothers and half-sister also lived.
Lee wanted to continue working as a fashion designer in Los Angeles, but when her mother was diagnosed with leukemia in 1994, she neglected her career to take care of her mother – she sadly died on 30 December that same year.
Brain tumor diagnoses
In August the following year, Lee collapsed in her father’s home in England, and was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, called an ependymoma, a rare type which was luckily potentially curable.
After having fluid drained from her skull, Lee was transferred to Boston, Massachusetts USA, where she had surgery which lasted over four hours, her doctor saying that the tumor had been removed. Her father, her step-mother, and her brother Jason were by her side in Boston while she was receiving radiation therapy; after a month Lee was released from the hospital.
Lee moved to her stepfather’s home in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles to recover, and in December 1995, flew to England to spend Christmas with her father, stepmother and siblings.
Health update
In 2001, Lee had to return to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, after tests showed that another tumor had developed, so her battle with it continued. She was under the treatment for months, and today Lee has made a full recovery.
She has no social media accounts, and it’s hard to keep track of her personal life, but it’s confirmed that Lee is doing fine, and is healthy and enjoying life.
Love life and relationships
There were various rumors both concerning Lee’s love life and her sexual orientation, however, she hasn’t spoken about any man or woman whom she has been with, but although preferring to keep her love life a secret, it’s widely known that back in 2001, she dated Ian McNabb, a musician from Liverpool, England, known as the singer of The Icicle Works, an alternative rock band. They dated for two years, and then she was romantically linked to Mark Philips, a Welsh singer in the band Demented Are Go! (DAG).
In 2006, Lee started dating Jay Mehler, who played the guitar in the British rock band Kasabian, and nowadays is a session and touring musician for Liam Gallagher.
The two became parents in 2009 when Lee gave birth to their triplets, two sons Jakamo and Smokey, and daughter Ruby Tiger.
As of February 2022, the couple is still together, they haven’t married or become engaged, but they have three children. They are currently living in London, where Lee works as a make-up artist, fashion designer, and stylist.
Age, height, and net worth
Lee is 51 years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes; she weighs around 121lbs (55kgs) and is 5ft5ins (1.65m) tall with vital statistics of 36-24-35.
As of early 2022, her net worth has been estimated at close to $3 million.
