Stars celebrate 50 years on sidewalk

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr (center) receives the 2,401st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on Monday, marking the 50th anniversary of the sidewalk attraction. "This is the start of the next 50 years of stars," he said outside the Capitol Records building. "I'm proud to be the first one." He is seen with (from left) musicians Ben Harper, Don Was and Joe Walsh, and Starr's wife Barbara Bach. The Beatles as a group were given a star in 1998. The Hollywood Walk of Fame attracts an estimated 10 million visitors annually to the 18-block stretch lining Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street. It was conceived in 1953 by the area's chamber of commerce in an effort to return glamour to the once-decaying strip.