Ringo Starr's brother-in-law is this former member of the Eagles
Joe Walsh and Ringo Starr share more than four decades of stage history — since 2008, they have also shared a family tree.
Joe Walsh, the guitarist and singer known for his work with the Eagles, became Ringo Starr's brother-in-law on December 13, 2008, when he married Marjorie Bach — the sister of Barbara Bach, who has been married to the former Beatle since 1981. The marriage, reported by Cheat Sheet, Rock and Roll Garage, and radio outlets including Sunny 107.9 and KSLX, linked two of classic rock's most storied bands through a single family connection: two sisters, two legendary guitarists' bandmates-turned-in-laws.
The Bach sisters' marriages bridged the Beatles and the Eagles by coincidence of romance rather than any band business. Barbara Bach, an actress best known for the 1977 James Bond film "The Spy Who Loved Me," married Ringo Starr in 1981 after the two met on the set of the comedy "Caveman." Her sister Marjorie's marriage to Walsh followed nearly three decades later. Rock and Roll Garage's account adds that Walsh and Starr had a professional relationship well before the wedding: Walsh played in Starr's All-Starr Band from 1989 to 1992, with guest appearances in 1995 and 2019, meaning the two men were bandmates for years before they became in-laws.
The sources reviewed do not agree on — or even address — exactly how Walsh and Marjorie Bach first met. Cheat Sheet reports only that "the couple had known one another for years before they wed," without saying how the acquaintance began. Sunny 107.9's account likewise does not describe an introduction, framing the connection purely through Marjorie's relation to Barbara. Separately, a Parade report headline credits Starr himself with introducing Walsh to his future wife, but that Parade page could not be retrieved for verification in this account, so the claim is noted here only as an unconfirmed lead, not asserted as fact.
The marriage and what came with it
According to Cheat Sheet, Walsh described the marriage as a turning point in his life, telling the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "I feel whole, and I also got, along with her, this huge extended family that came with the deal." He also connected the relationship to his broader recovery from addiction, saying, "My wife was the part of me that was missing. I've been pretty much all alone, or isolating heavily, in the dark days."
Rock and Roll Garage cites a separate, later reflection from Walsh, from a 2023 People interview, in similar terms: "I met Marjorie, and she's the other half of me that I had always been missing." That outlet also reports that Walsh credited his sobriety with opening his heart to the relationship. Cheat Sheet adds that Walsh and Starr's shared history with addiction and recovery went beyond family ties — the two received a humanitarian award in 2018 for their activism in addiction recovery, according to that outlet's reporting.
A fifth marriage, and a family bridge between two bands
Sunny 107.9's report notes that the December 2008 wedding was Walsh's fifth marriage, though it does not name or detail his previous marriages. That outlet's account is presented as a brief factual record of the date and the Bach-sister connection, without quotes from Walsh, Starr, or either sister. Cheat Sheet and Rock and Roll Garage, by contrast, both frame the marriage as a personal and emotional milestone for Walsh specifically, built around his own quoted reflections rather than band history.
None of the sources reviewed here establish precisely when Starr and Barbara Bach's marriage first connected the two families socially, nor do they document a wedding date or location for the Walsh-Bach ceremony beyond the December 13, 2008 date itself. What is consistent across all three accounts is the core fact: Marjorie Bach is Barbara Bach's sister, Barbara has been married to Ringo Starr since 1981, and Marjorie married Joe Walsh in 2008 — making the Eagles guitarist the former Beatle's brother-in-law.
US In News compiled this archived account from contemporaneous coverage by Cheat Sheet, Rock and Roll Garage, and Sunny 107.9. It restores a story originally published on this site in December 2008; figures are as reported at the time.