 Starr <unk> his vocals on 4 December , four days before the murder of John Lennon , who had been due to record his contributions to Stop and <unk> the Roses in January 1981 . <unk> with his success as a solo artist in 1971 – 73 , the album continued Starr 's run of commercial and critical failures since 1976 ; Rodriguez writes that " [ m ] <unk> people either love or hate the <unk> " of " Back Off <unk> " . 
