Ringo Says Farting in the Band Van Is Okay.

When Ringo Starr was recently asked about life on the road, he shared one of the Beatles' simplest rules for long van rides: if someone farted, they had to admit it.

"If you're in the van and you fart, own up to it... At the beginning, it was like ‘well, it wasn't me.' And we realized, well, just to get it out of the way, say 'I did it.' And it worked a treat and it took the pressure off."

It's the kind of story that sounds too ridiculous to be true. Yet musicians from Brian Johnson of AC/DC to St. Vincent to Dave Grohl have all swapped similar stories in interviews and in the What Drives Us documentary.

It's become clear that nearly every touring band has its own version of this conversation.

The joke isn't really about farting. Although, perhaps for Ringo, it might actually be...

But this speaks more to what happens when a handful of people choose to spend weeks, or months, living together in a space barely bigger than a walk-in closet.

Most fans experience the 90 or so minutes on stage they see of the band playing together. They don't see the hundreds of hours spent inside vans, backstage lounges, hotel rooms, airport terminals, truck stops, and parking lots. Those are the places where bands become families, for better or worse, and the moments when the relationship deepens to make space for the magic to occur on stage.

According to musician Chris Whited:

"75% of tour is being inside a van farting. The other 25% is just farting other places."

It appears that "Tour Etiquette" (if there is such a thing) isn't all that glamorous, but it's one of the most important skills a musician can develop. The little habits that seem insignificant on day one often become the things everyone remembers by week three.

So, with thanks to Ringo (and everyone else) for reopening one of touring's oldest debates, here are five reminders worth packing alongside your guitar case.

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1. Own Up to It. (Come On, Man.)

Ringo's famous rule isn't actually about farting. It's about accountability.

Leave your moldy coffee cup in the van for two days? Own it. Forget to fill the gas tank? Own it. Miss your load-in call? Own it. Wake everyone up because your alarm has been blaring for five minutes? Own it.

Every band makes mistakes. Every tour has moments where somebody forgets something, breaks something, loses something, or creates an awkward situation. The bands that survive aren't the ones that avoid those moments — they're the ones that don't waste energy pretending they never happened. That creates secrecy and animosity, which can stew unresolved and get under people's skin.

Touring with a band of humans leaves very little room for individual ego. The quickest path forward is usually the simplest one: admit it, laugh about it, and keep driving.

Also maybe go easy on the gas station microwaved burritos, man. It's enough already.

2. Respect Privacy (Even When There Isn't Any)

The thing with being on the road is that you're basically never alone. Unless you're on tour solo, almost every waking moment is a social one. Any chance at privacy is a luxury that anyone would be silly not to take.

A nap in the greenroom. Sitting out of soundcheck for a few minutes while the drummer line-checks every drum in the kit. A morning walk on your day off.

There's a universal signal that every band knows pretty intimately for when someone needs a moment to themselves:

Headphones.

If someone is staring out the van window with headphones, watching the corn fields blur into the skyline, just leave them be. Long tours teach you that not every silence needs to be filled. Some people recharge by talking, others recharge by disappearing into a playlist, a book, or the passing scenery outside the van.

Being a good travel companion isn't about constant conversation. It's about recognizing when someone needs company — and when they need quiet.

3. Pull Your Weight

Every touring musician knows the person who somehow disappears whenever it's time to unload the trailer. Don't be that person.

Help carry the gear. Offer to drive if you're insured. Grab coffees on the next gas stop. Take ten minutes to help coil cables instead of scrolling your phone. These gestures don't make the headlines, but they shape how people remember touring with you.

Nobody likes a diva.

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4. Acknowledge the Shared Space

A tour van isn't just transportation, it's essentially your living room, your occasional bedroom, your office, your dining room, and your social shared space for weeks on end.

That means every beef jerky wrapper you leave behind, every wet towel tossed on the floor, or every patch cable stretched across the aisle, and yes, every suspicious smell, eventually becomes somebody else's problem. Keeping shared spaces clean isn't really about cleanliness, it's about communicating to others that you value their right to occupy the same space as you.

Those little acts of communal consideration have a funny way of making long drives feel a little shorter.

5. Be Someone People Want to Tour With Again

Talent gets bands on the road, but character keeps them there. Every musician has played with someone incredibly gifted who was exhausting to travel with. Likewise, nearly everyone knows someone who isn't necessarily the flashiest player in the room but keeps getting the call because they're dependable, positive, and easy to spend time around.

That's professionalism. And if you're looking to create a sustainable pipeline of touring opportunities for yourself, professionalism is one of the ways you'll get there.

Touring has a way of revealing who people really are. There aren't many places to hide when you're sharing meals, navigating delays, solving problems, sleeping too little, and trying to perform your best every night.

The Road Teaches More Than Stagecraft

It's easy to laugh at Ringo Starr's decades-old "fart rule." That's part of what makes the story so memorable. Every touring band eventually discovers that these unwritten rules are about more than just bodily functions, snacks, playlists, or whose turn it is to drive.

Learn to laugh about your mistakes, communicate honestly, and keep the van moving forward, and you'll be just fine.

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