The drummer says it was "a great day" for him

Ringo Starr has celebrated the 56th anniversary of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison asking him to join The Beatles.

While the band formed in 1957, Starr didn’t join until 1962, replacing original drummer Pete Best. Starr was a friend of the band who had previously been performing in Rory Storm and the Hurricanes.

Starr took to Twitter to celebrate the anniversary, writing: “56 years ago Wednesday, 15 August John Paul and George invited me to become part of the Beatles it was a great day for me peace and love.” See that tweet below.

Starr received a knighthood earlier this year for his “services to music”. The knighthood came 20 years after McCartney was knighted back in 1997.

Speaking at the time of Starr’s knighthood, Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn said: “I’m delighted for Ringo that he’s received this honour. More than half a century on, what the Beatles did continues to be magnificent, so it feels right that Ringo has joined Paul in having this significant award in his homeland.”

McCartney was also quick to congratulate Starr, tweeting: “Huge congrats Sir Ringo! Sir Richard Starkey has a nice ring to it. Best drummer, best pal! X Paul.”

Yoko Ono also tweeted her congratulations, writing: “Dear Sir Ringo, I am very happy that you have received this honour from the Queen. It’s about time! Huge congratulations! I am delighted for you and your family. It is an honour for everyone in The Beatles family and I love you very much.”

Last month, McCartney was asked which musicians he admired the most and why. “Fellow Beatles,” he replied. “John [Lennon], who was pretty cool, and George [Harrison] and Ringo [Starr]. Having worked with John so one-on-one, I got to see his [songs] before the world. I’m a big fan.”