Ringo Starr to sell “peace & love” hand statues for charity

Ringo Starr has confirmed he will be selling statues of his iconic peace hand gesture, to raise money for the Lotus Foundation.

Starr will sell 250 stainless steel versions of the “peace & love” statue for £4,200, while 250 bronze pieces will also be available, costing £1,600.

According to Julien’s Auctions (who are selling the statues) “each life-sized artwork features Ringo Starr’s hand forming his iconic peace symbol, mounted upon a square black base that reads ‘Peace & Love.’ Each hand artwork is housed in a Ringo Peace & Love box and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity hand signed by Ringo Star.

The listing goes on to describe “Starr’s iconic peace symbol” as his “signature greeting and enduring message to the world for the last five decades.”

The money raised will go towards the Lotus Foundation, which supports charitable projects aimed at helping people deal with substance abuse, domestic abuse, homelessness, cancer as well as animals in need.

Last month, Starr was forced to cancel the last five dates of his current North American tour, after contracting COVID-19 for a second time in the span of a fortnight.

First testing positive for the virus at the start of October, the Beatle was forced to cancel seven shows between Michigan and British Columbia. He returned to the road on Tuesday (October 11) – flanked by the All-Starr Band – performing in Seattle then and in Portland the following night (October 12).

However, Starr then confirmed he’d caught COVID again. “I’m sure you’ll be as surprised as I was,” he wrote in a statement shared on social media, alerting his fans that “the rest of the tour is off”.

Starr put out his latest solo album, ‘What’s My Name’, in 2019. He followed it up with two EPs in 2021 – ‘Zoom In’ and ‘Change The World’ – and in September, Starr released the four-track ‘EP3’. He also featured in the documentary Let There Be Drums! which includes the likes of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Stewart Copeland of The Police and the Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ Chad Smith.