Paul McCartney congratulates Ringo Starr on being tapped as British knight

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Ringo Starr, the ex-drummer of The Beatles has been selected for knighthood as part of Queen Elizabeth’s New Year’s honors list. Starr is now 77. He became a member of the Beatles as a replacement drummer for Pete Best in 1962. USA TODAY

Ringo Starr is among the celebrated citizens selected for knighthood and other awards given in the name of Britain's monarch — and his former Beatles bandmate is singing his praises.

Paul McCartney took to Twitter Saturday to share a photo of the pair along with a congratulatory message.

"Huge congrats Sir Ringo! Sir Richard Starkey has a nice ring to it. Best drummer best pal!" McCartney wrote.

Britain's Cabinet Office publishes a list of the people receiving honors for merit, service or bravery twice a year: just before New Year's Eve, and on the Saturday in June when Queen Elizabeth II's birthday is officially observed.

The New Year's Honors List made public late Friday also revealed that Barry Gibb, the oldest and last surviving of the brothers who made up the pop group the Bee Gees, has been tapped as a knight.

The process starts with nominations from the public, which first are reviewed by a specialist committee and then by a main honors committee. The nominations are then sent to the prime minister before the various honors are bestowed by the queen or senior royals.

The children's author celebrated for War Horse, a politician who fought in vain to keep Britain in the European Union, and many others, including renowned researchers, volunteers and actors, also made the honors list.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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Photos: The Beatles take their show on the road

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Ron Howard's new Beatles documentary, 'Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years,' is heading to theaters (Sept. 16) and Hulu (Sept. 17). Here, the Fab Four have a ticket to ride from New York to England in 1964. From left: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison.  AP

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John Lennon and wife Cynthia wait for a flight to New York at London Airport on Feb. 7, 1964. "They would sit like this, four chairs with the wives and girlfriends," says the documentary's producer Nigel Sinclair. "There was a circle around them. ... People broke into that group at their peril."  Evening Standard

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The Beatles land on Feb. 7, 1964, at John F. Kennedy airport in New York for their historic appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' Nielsen says 45% of all TV sets in use at the time were tuned into the broadcast,  AP

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The Beatles arrive in New York on Feb. 7, 1964, for their first U.S. appearances. When the band played 'Ed Sullivan,' "it was exciting, it was fresh, it was what everybody was talking about," says Howard, who was 9 at the time.  AP

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Paul McCartney, right, shows his guitar to Ed Sullivan before The Beatles' live appearance on the show. "I wasn't a crazy music follower, I didn't have the radio going constantly," Howard says. "But they were on all the time, and I loved it.'  AP

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The Beatles make their first appearance on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' on Feb. 9, 1964. "Without us as this tight little band ... there wouldn't be any catalog," McCartney says. "There just wouldn't be."  CBS Photo Archive

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The Beatles face photographers during their first 'Ed Sullivan' appearance on Feb. 9, 1964. "We don't know that much about Mozart. We can't experience what it's like to be a 4-year-old writing symphonies, because we don't really know," says Sinclair. "But we do know what it's like to be The Beatles."  CBS Photo Archive

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As Beatlemania exploded, fans were hands-on in their love for the group. A young admirer hugs George Harrison on Oct. 26, 1963, as The Beatles play at a pop festival in Stockholm. "The kids, I never felt they were trying to hurt us," Starr says.  AP

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Cassius Clay (aka Muhammed Ali) posed jokingly with The Beatles on Feb. 18, 1964. The bandmates visited the boxing contender at his training camp in Miami a week after their 'Ed Sullivan' appearance.  AP

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George Harrison, left, and John Lennon aboard an airplane in Los Angeles before leaving for London on May 25, 1964. "The idea that the audience they were playing to was each other became more extreme as they got more isolated," Sinclair says. "So what mattered was, did John Lennon laugh at my joke?"  AP

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John Lennon, center, is flanked by bandmates George Harrison, left, and Ringo Starr as he apologizes for his remark that "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus" at a Chicago news conference on Aug. 11, 1966. They would play their final planned live concert less than three weeks later.  AP

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Spectators watch the Beatles perform their last live U.S. concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 1966. Paul McCartney would play the venue's last-ever gig 48 years later, before the stadium's demolition.  Fred Pardini, AP

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