Sting (musician)

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"Gordon Sumner" redirects here. For the Australian rules footballer, see Gordon Sumner (footballer).

Sting
CBE

Sting performing at Madison Square Garden, New York on 1 August

2007

Born

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner

2 October 1951 (age 63)
Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, England

Nationality

British

Other names

Sting

Alma mater

Northern Counties College of Education

Occupation

Musician
singer-songwriter

multi-instrumentalist
activist
actor
philanthropist
Spouse(s)

Frances Tomelty (m. 197684)

Trudie Styler (m. 1992)

Children

6; including Joe, Mickey andEliot

Musical career
Rock

Genres

pop
new wave
jazz
Vocals

Instruments

bass guitar
guitar
double bass
Years active

1971present

Labels

A&M
Deutsche Grammophon
Universal Music Group

Associated

The Police, Strontium 90, Dire Straits, Cheb

acts

Mami, Curved Air, Eberhard Schoener,Fiction

Plane, Eliot Sumner,Afrojack
Website
sting.com

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), better known by his stage
name Sting, is an English musician,singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor, and
philanthropist. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new
wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1983, before launching a solo career.
He has included rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and worldbeat in his music.[1] As a solo
musician and a member of The Police, he received 16 Grammy Awards, his first for best rock
instrumental in 1980, three Brit Awards, including Best British Male in 1994 and Outstanding
Contribution in 2002,[2] a Golden Globe award, an Emmy Award, and three Academy Award
nominations for Best Original Song. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on

the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording. In 2003, Sting received a CBE fromElizabeth II at
Buckingham Palace for services to music, and was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White
House in 2014.
With The Police, Sting became one of the world's best-selling music artists. Solo and with The
Police, he sold 100 million records.[3]In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living
songwriters.[4] He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock,[5] and 80th ofQ magazine's 100
greatest musical stars of 20th century.[6] He has collaborated with other musicians, including "Rise &
Fall" withCraig David, "All for Love", with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, and introduced the North
African music genre ra to Western audiences by his international hit "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami.
Contents
[hide]

1 Early life

2 Musical career
o

2.1 The Police

2.2 Early solo work: 19811984

2.3 Solo debut: 19851989

2.4 Greater solo success: 19901997

2.5 Brand New Day and soundtrack work: 19982004

2.6 Experimental albums and The Police reunion: 20062010

2.7 The Last Ship: 2010present

3 Activism

4 Personal life

5 Discography
o

5.1 The Police

5.2 Solo

6 Filmography

7 Theatre
o

7.1 Broadway

8 Bibliography

9 Awards and nominations

10 See also

11 References

12 External links

Early life[edit]
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England,
on 2 October 1951,[7][8] the eldest of four children born to Audrey (ne Cowell), a hairdresser, and
Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and engineer.[9] He grew up near Wallsend's shipyards, which
made an impression on him. He helped his father deliver milk and by ten was "obsessed" with an old
Spanish guitar left by an emigrating friend of his father.[10]
He attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He visited nightclubs such as
Club A'Gogo to see Cream andManfred Mann, who influenced his music.[11] After being a bus
conductor, building labourer and tax officer, he attended Northern Counties College of
Education from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher.[12] He taught at St Paul's First School
in Cramlington for two years.[13]
Sting performed jazz in the evening, weekends and during breaks from college and teaching. He
played with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band, and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after
his habit of wearing a black and yellow sweater with hooped stripes with the Phoenix Jazzmen.
[14]
Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee, which prompted the name "Sting". [14] In
the 1985 documentary Bring on the Night a journalist called him Gordon, to which he replied, "My
children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, who is this Gordon character?" [15] In Time in 2011
he said: "I was never called Gordon. You could shout 'Gordon' in the street and I would just move out
of your way."[16]

Musical career[edit]
The Police[edit]
Main article: The Police
In January 1977, Sting moved from Newcastle to London and joined Stewart Copeland and Henry
Padovani (soon replaced by Andy Summers) to form The Police. From 1978 to 1983 they had five
UK chart-topping albums, won six Grammy Awards, and two Brit Awards; for Best British Group, and
for Outstanding Contribution to Music.[17][18] Their initial sound was punk inspired, but they switched
to reggae rock and minimalist pop. Their final album, Synchronicity, was nominated for five Grammy
Awards including Album of the Year. It included their most successful song, "Every Breath You Take",
written by Sting, in 1983.
"Even though logic would say, 'Are you out of your mind? You're in the biggest band in the world just bite the bullet
and make some money.' But there continued to be some instinct, against logic, against good advice, [that] told me I
should quit."
Sting on quitting the band in 1986.[19]

According to Sting, who appeared in the documentary Last Play at Shea, he decided to leave The
Police while onstage during a concert of 18 August 1983 at Shea Stadium because he felt that
playing that venue was "[Mount] Everest".[20]While never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity the
group agreed to concentrate on solo projects. As the years went by, the band members, particularly

Sting, dismissed the possibility of reforming. In 2007, however, the band reformed and undertook
a world tour.[21]
Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All
Time, and two Sting penned songs, "Every Breath You Take" and "Roxanne", appeared on Rolling
Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[22]In addition both songs were among The Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 2003 the band were inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame.[23] They were also included in Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the "100 Greatest
Artists of All Time".[24][25]

Early solo work: 19811984[edit]

In September 1981, Sting made his first live solo appearance, on all four nights of the
fourth Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in London's Drury Lane
theatre at the invitation of producer Martin Lewis. He performed solo versions of "Roxanne" and
"Message in a Bottle". He also led an all-star band (dubbed "The Secret Police") on his own
arrangement of Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". The band and chorus included Eric Clapton, Jeff
Beck, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, all of whom (except Beck) later worked on Live Aid.
His performances were in the album and movie of the show. The Secret Policeman's Other
Ball began his growing involvement in political and social causes. In 1982 he made a solo single,
"Spread a Little Happiness" from the film of the Dennis Potter television play Brimstone and Treacle.
The song was a re-interpretation of the 1920s musical Mr Cinders by Vivian Ellis, and a Top 20 hit in
the UK.[26]

Solo debut: 19851989[edit]

His first solo album, 1985's The Dream of the Blue Turtles, featured jazz musicians including Kenny
Kirkland, Darryl Jones, Omar Hakim and Branford Marsalis. It included the hit singles "If You Love
Somebody Set Them Free" (backed with the non-LP song "Another Day"), "Fortress Around Your
Heart", "Love Is the Seventh Wave", and "Russians", the last based on a theme from the Lieutenant
Kij Suite.[27] Within a year, the album reached Triple Platinum. This album
received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Jazz
Instrumental Performance, and Best Engineered Recording.[28]

Sting performing in 1985

Sting sang the line "I Want My MTV" on "Money for Nothing", a 1985 hit by Dire Straits. In November
1984, he was part of Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which raised money for famine
victims in Ethiopia.[29] In July 1985, Sting performed Police hits at the Live Aidconcert at Wembley
Stadium in London. He also joined Dire Straits in "Money for Nothing", [30] and he sang two duets
with Phil Collins.[31]In 1985, Sting provided spoken vocals for the Miles Davis album You're Under
Arrest, taking the role of a French-speaking police officer. He also sang backing vocals
on Arcadia's single "The Promise", on two songs from Phil Collins' album No Jacket Required, and

contributed "Mack the Knife" to the Hal Willner-produced tribute album Lost in the Stars: The Music
of Kurt Weill. In September 1985, he performed "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" at the 1985
MTV Video Music Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York.[32]The 1986 film Bring on the
Night, directed by Michael Apted, documented the formation of his solo band and its first concert in
France.[33]

Sting and Bono at the Conspiracy of Hope concert in New Jersey, 1986

Sting made ...Nothing Like the Sun in 1987, including "We'll Be Together", "Fragile", "Englishman in
New York", and "Be Still My Beating Heart", dedicated to his mother, who had recently died. It went
Double Platinum. "The Secret Marriage" from this album was adapted from a Hanns Eisler, and
"Englishman In New York" was about Quentin Crisp. The album's title is from William
Shakespeare's Sonnet 130.[34] The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards and in
1989 received three Grammynominations including his second consecutive nomination for Album of
the Year. "Be Still My Beating Heart" earned nominations for Song of the Year and Best Male Pop
Vocal Performance. In 1989, ...Nothing Like the Sun was ranked number 90 and his Police
albumSynchronicity was ranked number 17 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.[35]
In February 1988 he made Nada como el sol, five songs from Sun he sang in Spanish and
Portuguese. In 1987 jazz arranger Gil Evansplaced him ting in a big band setting for a live album of
Sting's songs, and on Frank Zappa's 1988 Broadway the Hard Way he performed an arrangement of
"Murder By Numbers", set to "Stolen Moments" by Oliver Nelson, and "dedicated" to
evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. In October 1988 he recorded a version of Igor Stravinsky's The
Soldier's Tale with the London Sinfonietta conducted by Kent Nagano. It featured Vanessa
Redgrave, Sir Ian McKellen and Sting as the soldier.[36]

Greater solo success: 19901997[edit]

His 1991 album, The Soul Cages was dedicated to his father, who had died. It included "All This
Time", and the Grammy-winning title track. The album went Platinum. The following year, he
married Trudie Styler and was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Northumbria University.
In 1991, he appeared on Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. He
performed "Come Down in Time" for the album, which also features other popular artists and their
renditions of John/Taupin songs.
Ten Summoner's Tales peaked at two in the UK and US album charts in 1993, and went triple
platinum in just over a year.[26][37] The album was recorded at his Elizabethancountry home, Lake
House in Wiltshire. Ten Summoner's Tales was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1993 and for the
Grammy for Album of the Year in 1994. The title is a wordplay on his surname, Sumner, and "The
Summoner's Tale," one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Hit singles on the album
include "Fields of Gold" and "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You", the latter earning his second award for
best male pop singer at the 36th Grammy Awards.[38]

In May 1993, he covered his own Police song from the Ghost in the Machine album, "Demolition
Man", for the Demolition Man film. With Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, he performed "All for Love"
for the film The Three Musketeers. The song stayed at the top of the U.S. charts for five weeks and
went platinum; it is Sting's only song from his post-Police career to top the U.S. charts. In February,
he won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three more.[38] The Berklee College of
Music awarded him his second honorary doctorate of music in May. In November, he released a
compilation called Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting, which was certified Double Platinum. That year,
he sang with Vanessa Williams on "Sister Moon", appeared on her album The Sweetest Days. At
the 1994 Brit Awards in London, he was Best British Male.[39]
His 1996 album, Mercury Falling debuted strongly with the single "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", but
dropped from the charts. He reached the Top 40 with two singles the same year with "You Still Touch
Me" (June) and "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" (December), which became a country music hit
in 1997 in a version with Toby Keith. Sting recorded music for the Disney film Kingdom of the Sun,
which was reworked into The Emperor's New Groove. The film's overhauls and plot changes were
documented by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler. She wrote of when Disney told him his songs would not
be used.
Also in 1996, he sang for the Tina Turner single "On Silent Wings" as a part of her Wildest
Dreams album. In the same year, his performance with the Brazilian composer/artistTom Jobim in
"How Insensitive" was in the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot
Organization. Sting cooperated with Greek singer George Dalaras in a concert in Athens.
"Moonlight", a rare jazz performance by Sting for the 1995 remake of Sabrina, written by Alan
Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and John Williams, was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best
Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television. On 4 September 1997, Sting performed "I'll Be
Missing You" with Puff Daddy at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards in tribute to Notorious B.I.G..
[40]
On 15 September 1997, Sting appeared at the Music for Montserrat concert at the Royal Albert
Hall, London, performing with fellow English artists Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil
Collins and Mark Knopfler.[41]

Brand New Day and soundtrack work: 19982004[edit]

Sting on stage in January 2000

The Emperor's New Groove soundtrack was released with complete songs from the previous version
of the film, which included Rascal Flatts and Shawn Colvin. The final single used to promote the film
was "My Funny Friend and Me". Sting's September 1999 album Brand New Day included the Top 40
hits "Brand New Day" and "Desert Rose". The album went Triple Platinum by January 2001. In 2000,
he won Grammy Awards for Brand New Day and the song of the same name. At the awards
ceremony, he performed "Desert Rose" with his collaborator on the album version, Cheb Mami.

In February 2001, he won another Grammy for "She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)" on A Love
Affair: The Music Of Ivan Lins. His "After the Rain Has Fallen" made it into the Top 40. His next
project was a live album at his villa in Figline Valdarno, released as a CD and DVD as well as being
broadcast on the internet. The CD and DVD were to be entitled On Such a Night and intended to
feature re-workings of Sting favourites such as "Roxanne" and "If You Love Somebody Set Them
Free." The concert, scheduled for 11 September 2001, was altered due to the terrorist attacks in
America that day. The webcast shut after one song (a reworked version of "Fragile"), after which
Sting let the audience decide whether to continue the show. They decided to go ahead and the
album and DVD appeared in November as...All This Time, dedicated "to all those who lost their lives
on that day". He performed "Fragile" with Yo-Yo Ma and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during the
opening ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, US.[42]
In 2002, he won a Golden Globe Award for "Until..." from the film Kate and Leopold.[38] Written and
performed by him, "Until..." was nominated for Academy Award for Best Song.[38] At the 2002 Brit
Awards in February, Sting received the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. [39] In June he was
inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In theQueen's Birthday Honours 2003 Sting was made
a Commander of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire For services to the Music Industry.
[43]
At the 54th Primetime Emmy Awards in September, Sting won an Emmy Award for Outstanding
Individual Performance In A Variety Or Music Program, for his A&E special, Sting in Tuscany... All
This Time.[38]
In 2003, Sting released Sacred Love, a studio album featuring collaborations with hip-hop artist Mary
J. Blige and sitar performer Anoushka Shankar. He and Blige won a Grammy for their duet,
"Whenever I Say Your Name". The song is based on Johann Sebastian Bachs Praeambulum 1 CMajor (BWV 924) from the Klavierbuechlein fuer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach though Sting said little
about this adaptation.[44] The album did not have the hit singles like his previous releases.
His autobiography Broken Music was published in October. He embarked on a Sacred Love tour in
2004 with performances by Annie Lennox.[45] Sting went on the Broken Music tour, touring smaller
venues, with a four-piece band, starting in Los Angeles on 28 March 2005 and ending on 14 May
2005. Sting was on the 2005 Monkey Business CD by hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas, singing
on "Union", which samples his Englishman in New York. Continuing with Live Aid, he appeared
at Live 8 at Hyde Park, London in July 2005.[46]

Experimental albums and The Police reunion: 20062010[edit]

During 2006, Sting was on the Gregg Kofi Brown album, with "Lullaby to an anxious child" produced
and arranged by the Lino Nicolosi and Pino Nicolos (Nicolosi productions).[47]

Sting with The Police at Madison Square Garden, New York, 1 August 2007

In October 2006, he released an album, to mixed reviews, entitled Songs from the
Labyrinth featuring the music of John Dowland (anElizabethan-era composer) and accompaniment
from Bosnian lute player Edin Karamazov. Stings interpretation of this English
Renaissance composer and his cooperation with Edin Karamazov brought recognition in classical

music.[48] As promotion of this album, he appeared on the fifth episode of Studio 60 to perform a
segment of Dowland's "Come Again" as well as his own "Fields of Gold" in arrangement for voice
and two archlutes.
On 11 February 2007, he reunited with Police to open the 2007 Grammy Awards, singing Roxanne,
and announced The Police Reunion Tour, the first concert of which was in Vancouver on 28 May
2007 for 22,000 fans. The Police toured for more than a year, beginning with North America and
crossing to Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Tickets for the British tour
sold out within 30 minutes, the band playing two nights at Twickenham Stadium, southwest London
on 8 and 9 September 2007.[49] The last concert was atMadison Square Garden on 7 August 2008,
during which his three daughters appeared with him. Toronto documentary producer Vanessa Dylyn,
who was producing a film called The Musical Brain, featuring neuroscientist Daniel Levitin,
approached Sting about the film. Sting was interested in having his brain scanned by while different
music was played. "Brand New Day" was the final song of the night for theNeighborhood Ball, one of
ten inaugural balls honouring President Barack Obama on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2009. Sting
was joined by Stevie Wonder on harmonica.[50]
Sting entered the studio in early February 2009 to begin work on a new album If on a Winter's
Night...,[51] released on October 2009.[52] Initial reviews by fans that had access to early promotional
copies were mixed, and some questioned Sting's artistic direction with this album. [53]
In 2009, Sting appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert, playing "Higher
Ground" and "Roxanne" with Stevie Wonder.[54][55] Sting himself wasinducted in 2003, as a member of
The Police.[56][57]
In October 2009, Sting played a concert in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, for an arts and cultural festival.
Despite claiming he thought the concert was sponsored by UNICEF, he faced criticism in the press
for receiving a payment of between one and two million pounds from Uzbek president Islam
Karimov for the performance. Karimov is accused by the UN and Amnesty of human rights abuses
and UNICEF stated they had no connection with the event. [58]

The Last Ship: 2010present[edit]

Sting performing in Budapest, 30 June 2011

In 20102011, Sting continued his Symphonicity Tour, touring South Korea, Japan, Australia, New
Zealand, South America and Europe.[59] In the second half of 2011, Sting began his Back to Bass
Tour, which would continue (with periodic breaks) through 2013.[60]
In 2011, Time magazine named Sting one of the 100 most influential people in the world. [61] On 26
April he performed "Every Breath You Take", "Roxanne" and "Desert Rose" at the Time 100 Gala in
New York City.[62]

Sting recorded a song called "Power's Out" with Nicole Scherzinger. The song, originally recorded in
2007, was to have been included on Scherzinger's shelved album Her Name is Nicole. The song
was released on Scherzinger's 2011 debut album Killer Love.
Sting recorded a new version of the song "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" as a duet
with Glee actor/singer Matthew Morrison, which appears on Morrison's 2011 eponymous debut
album.[63]
On 15 September 2011, Sting performed "Fragile" at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, to honour
the memory of his friend, financier-philanthropist Herman Sandler, who died in the 9/11 attacks on
the World Trade Center.[64]
For several years, Sting worked on a musical, The Last Ship,[65] inspired by Sting's own childhood
experiences and the shipbuilding industry inWallsend, Tyne and Wear. In 2013, the musical had a
staged reading.[66] The Last Ship tells a story about the demise of the British shipbuilding industry in
1980s Newcastle, and debuted in Chicago in June 2014 before transferring to Broadway in the
Autumn.[67][68][69] Sting's eleventh studio album, titled The Last Ship and inspired by the play, was
released on 24 September 2013.[70][71]
In February 2014, Sting embarked on a joint concert tour titled On Stage Together with American
musician Paul Simon, playing 21 concerts in North America.[72] The tour will continue in early 2015,
with ten shows in Australia and New Zealand,[73][74] and 23 in Europe.[75]
On 26 June 2015 in Bergen, Norway (at the Bergen Calling Festival), Sting will embark on a 21date Summer 2015 solo tour of Europe due to end on 1 August 2015 inTrondheim, Norway (at the
Olavsfestdagene), visiting Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sweden.[76]

Activism[edit]
Involvement in human rights began in September 1981 when Martin Lewis included him in the fourth
Amnesty International gala, The Secret Policeman's Other Ball following the example set at the 1979
show by Pete Townshend.[77] Sting performed "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle" appearing on all
four nights at the Theatre Royal in London. He also led other musicians (The Secret Police)
including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Phil Collins, Donovan, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in the finale
Sting's reggae-tinged arrangement ofBob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. The event was the first time
that Sting had worked with Geldof, Collins and Ure an association that developed with
1984's Band Aid and 1985'sLive Aid. His association with Amnesty continued throughout the 1980s
and beyond and he took part in Amnesty's Human rights concerts.[78]
In June 1986, Sting reunited with The Police for the last three shows of Amnesty's six-date A
Conspiracy of Hope concerts in the US. The day after the final concert, he told NBC'sToday Show:
"I've been a member of Amnesty and a support member for five years, due to an entertainment
event called The Secret Policeman's Ball and before that I did not know about Amnesty, I did not
know about its work, I did not know about torture in the world."[79]
In 1988 he joined musicians including Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen for a six-week Human
Rights Now! tour commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights.[78]

Sting with Chief Raoni in Paris, in April 1989

Sting had shown his interest in social and political issues in his 1980 song "Driven to Tears," an
indictment of apathy to world hunger. He took part in Bob Geldof's "Feed The World" project in
December 1984 and sang on "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which led to the Live Aid concert in
July 1985 at Wembley Stadium, in which Sting performed with Phil Collins and Dire Straits. [31]
In 1988, the single "They Dance Alone" chronicled the plight of the mothers, wives and daughters of
the "disappeared", political opponents killed by the Pinochet government in Chile[80]
With his wife Trudie Styler and Raoni Metuktire, a Kayap Indian leader in Brazil, Sting founded
the Rainforest Foundation Fund to help save the rainforests and protect indigenous peoples there. In
1989 he flew to the Altamira Gathering to offering support while promoting his charity.[81] His support
continues and includes an annual benefit concert at Carnegie Hall with Billy Joel, Elton John, James
Taylor and others. A species of Colombian tree frog, Dendropsophus stingi, was named after him for
his "commitment and efforts to save the rain forest".[82]
On 15 September 1997, Sting joined Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Phil Collins and
Mark Knopfler at London's Royal Albert Hall for Music for Montserrat, a benefit for
the Caribbean island devastated by a volcano. Sting and Trudie Styler were awarded the Peace
Abbey Courage of Conscience award in Sherborn, Massachusetts, on 30 June 2000.[83]
In September 2001, Sting took part in America: A Tribute to Heroes singing "Fragile" to raise money
for families of victims of attacks in the US.[84]
In February 2005, Sting performed the Leeuwin Estate Concert Series in Western Australia, the
concert raising $4 million for the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunamirelief.[85][86][87] On 2 July
2005, Sting performed at the Live 8 concert at Hyde Park, London, the follow-up to 1985's Live Aid.[46]
In 2007, Sting joined Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland for the closing set at the Live
Earth concert at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Joined by John Mayerand Kanye
West, Sting and The Police ended the show singing "Message in a Bottle"[88] In 2008 Sting
contributed to Songs for Tibet to support Tibet and the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.[89]
On 22 January 2010, Sting performed "Driven to Tears" during Hope for Haiti Now.[90] On 25 April
2010, he performed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in the 40th anniversary celebration
of Earth Day.[91]
Sting is a patron of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.[92] In 2010 he became a Patron of the poverty
alleviation and beekeeping charity Bees for Development.[93]
In 2011, Sting joined more than 30 others in an open letter to British prime minister David
Cameron for "immediate decriminalisation of drug possession" if a policy review showed it had
failed. Sting was quoted: "Giving young people criminal records for minor drug possession serves
little purpose it is time to think of more imaginative ways of addressing drug use in our society." [94]
On 4 July 2011, Sting cancelled a concert for the Astana Day Festival in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Amnesty International convinced him to cancel due to concerns over the rights of Kazakh oil and gas

workers and their families. On 2 November 2012, Sting appeared on Hurricane Sandy: Coming
Together and sang a version of "Message in a Bottle" to raise funds for those affected by a storm on
the east coast of the United States that week. The show reportedly raised $23 million. [95]
In August 2014, Sting was one of 200 signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish
independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[96]

Personal life[edit]

Sting with his 2014Kennedy Center HonoreeMedallion, December 2014

Sting married actress Frances Tomelty from Northern Ireland, on 1 May 1976. Before they divorced
in 1984, they had two children: Joseph (born 23 November 1976) and Fuchsia Katherine ("Kate",
born 17 April 1982). In 1980, Sting became a tax exile[97][98][99] in Galway in Ireland. In 1982, after the
birth of his second child, he separated from Tomelty and began living with actress and film
producer Trudie Styler. The couple married on 22 August 1992 in an 11th-century chapel in Wiltshire,
south-west England.[100] Sting and Styler have four children: Brigitte Michael ("Mickey", born 19
January 1984), Jake (born 24 May 1985), Eliot Pauline (nicknamed Coco", born 30 July 1990), and
Giacomo Luke (born 17 December 1995). Coco is singer and founder of the London group I Blame
Coco. Giacomo Luke is the inspiration behind the name of Kentucky Derby-winning horse Giacomo.
[101]

Sting said his children will not inherit his 180m fortune, fearing his riches are "albatrosses round
their necks", that "there won't be much money left because we are spending it." [102] The Sunday
Times Rich List of 2011 estimated Sting to be one of the 10 wealthiest people in British music. [103]
Both of Sting's parents died from cancer in the 1980s (his mother in 1986 and his father in 1987). He
did not attend either funeral, saying the media would be disrespectful to his parents. [104]
In 1995, Sting prepared for a court appearance against his former accountant who had
misappropriated several million pounds of his money.[105]Sting owns several homes worldwide,
including Lake House and its 60 acre estate near Salisbury, Wiltshire; a cottage in the Lake District;
a New York City flat; a beach house in Malibu; a 600-acre (2.4 km2) estate in Tuscany, Italy;[106] and a
flat on the Mall, and an 18th-century terrace house in Highgate.[107]

Garry Kasparov and Sting in Times Square, New York, 2000

Sting ran five miles (8 km) a day and performed aerobics. He participated in running races
at Parliament Hill and charity runs. Around 1990 Danny Paradise introduced him to yoga, and he
began practising Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga series, though he now practises Tantraand Jivamukti
Yoga as well.[108] He wrote a foreword to Yoga Beyond Belief,[109] written by Ganga White in 2007. In
2008 he was reported to practise Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation technique.[110]
Sting's affinity for yoga contributed to a rumour about his sexual prowess, including a purported eight
hours of sex with Styler.[111][112] The story stems from an interview with Sting and Bob Geldof. A
journalist asked "how do you perform in bed?" and Geldof remarked that he was a "three-minute
man" but Sting could last for hours thanks to yoga. [113]
Sting played Garry Kasparov in an exhibition game in 2000, along with four bandmates: Dominic
Miller, Jason Rebello, Chris Botti and Russ Irwin. Kasparov beat all five simultaneously within 50
minutes.[114] Sting adheres to a macrobiotic diet.[115]
In 1969, Sting read the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake and bought the film rights. He named
pets, a racehorse, his publishing company, and one of his daughters (Fuchsia) after characters from
the books.[116]
Sting supports his hometown Premier League football club Newcastle United, and in 2009, backed a
Newcastle United Supporters' campaign against the plan of owner Mike Ashley to sell off naming
rights to St James' Park.[117]
In 2011 interview in Time, Sting said: "I'm essentially agnostic. I don't have a problem with God. I
have a problem with religion. I've chosen to live my life without the certainties of religious faith. I think
they're dangerous. Music is something that gives my life value and spiritual solace." [16]
In August 2013, Sting donated money to The Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool to regenerate the
1920s lido at the southern end of Longsands Beach in Tynemouth, a few miles from where he was
born.[118]

Discography[edit]
Main article: Sting discography
See also: The Police discography

The Police[edit]

Outlandos d'Amour (1978)

Reggatta de Blanc (1979)

Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)

Ghost in the Machine (1981)

Synchronicity (1983)

The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)

...Nothing Like the Sun (1987)

The Soul Cages (1991)

Ten Summoner's Tales (1993)

Mercury Falling (1996)

Brand New Day (1999)

Sacred Love (2003)

Songs from the Labyrinth (2006)

If on a Winter's Night... (2009)

Symphonicities (2010)

The Last Ship (2013)

Solo[edit]

Filmography[edit]
Sting has also ventured into acting. Film and television roles include:[119]
As actor

Quadrophenia (1979) The Ace Face, the King of the Mods, a.k.a.
The Bell Boy in the film adaptation of the Who album.

Radio On (1980) Just Like Eddie

Artemis 81 (1981) The angel Helith (BBC TV film)

Brimstone and Treacle (1982) Martin Taylor, a drifter

Dune (1984) Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen

Titus Groan Steerpike (BBC Radio 4 broadcasts based on

the Mervyn Peake novels.)

Gormenghast (1984) Steerpike

Plenty (1985) Mick, a black-marketeer

The Bride (1985) Baron Frankenstein

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) A "heroic officer"

Stormy Monday (1988) Finney, a nightclub owner

Julia and Julia (1988) Daniel, a British gentleman

Saturday Night Live (1991) host, various

The Grotesque (1995), a/k/a Gentlemen Don't Eat Poets and Grave
Indiscretion Fledge

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) J.D., Eddie's father
and owner of a bar.

Bring on the Night (1985)

The Simpsons episode "Radio Bart" (1992)

The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer Episode 5 (1995)

The Larry Sanders Show episode "Where Is the Love?" (1996)

Ally McBeal season four episode "Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade"

(2001)

Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out (2006)

Studio 60 on Sunset Strip (2006)

Vicar of Dibley Comic Relief special (2007)

Bee Movie (2007)

Little Britain USA (2008) as Stomp, the lead singer of "the Cops"
(playing "Fields of Gold")

Brno (2009)

As himself

Still Bill (2009)

Do It Again (2010)

Life's Too Short (2011)

The Michael J. Fox Show (2013) (singing "August Wind" from The
Last Ship)

20 Feet from Stardom (2013)

Sting narrated the American premiere of the musical Yanomamo (1983), by Peter Rose and Anne
Conlon, outlining problems that existed in the Amazon rainforest. This was made into a film and later
broadcast as Song of the Forest. He also provided the voice of Zarm on the 1990s television
show Captain Planet and the Planeteers. In 1989 he starred as Macheath (Mack the Knife) in John
Dexter's Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera. Sting also appeared as himself in the
video game Guitar Hero World Tour.

Theatre[edit]
Broadway[edit]
Year

Title

Notes

1982

Rock 'N Roll! The First 5,000 Years

Writer: "Message in a Bottle"

1989

3 Penny Opera

Role: Macheath

2014

The Last Ship

Music and lyrics

Role: Jackie White

Bibliography[edit]

2009 The Words and Music of Sting, Christopher Gable,

Praeger, ISBN 978-0-275-99360-3

2007 Lyrics by Sting, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-1-84737-167-6

2003 Autobiography Broken Music, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 07434-5081-7

2005 Biography Sting and I, James Berryman, John Blake, ISBN 184454-107-X

2000 Authorised biography A Sting in the Tale, James

Berryman, Mirage Publishing, ISBN 1-902578-13-9

1998 Biography Sting Demolition Man, Christopher Sandford,

Little, Brown and Company, ISBN 0-316-64372-6

Awards and nominations[edit]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Sting

See also[edit]

Book: Sting
(musician)

List of number-one hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart

Mononymous persons

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External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to Sting.

Official website

Sting at DMOZ

Sting at the Internet Movie Database

Sting at the Internet Broadway Database

Sting at the Notable Names Database

Sting discography at MusicBrainz

Sting's Commencement Address (1994) to the Berklee College of

Music

List of Sting's touring band line-ups

Radio interview about John Dowland songs from NPR Performance

Today, 6 March 2007

Sting Live in Minsk (video) on the Official Website of Belarus

[show]

Sting
[show]

The Police
[show]

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song

[show]

Primetime Emmy Award for Individual Performance in a Variety or M

[show]

Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song (2000s)

[show]

Grammy Award for Song of the Year (1980s)

[show]

Kennedy Center Honorees (2010s)

[show]

MusiCares Person of the Year

Authority control

WorldCat
VIAF: 77113878
LCCN: n84157839
ISNI: 0000 0003 6855 7676
GND: 118892096
BNF: cb12126867z (data)
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NDL: 00621518

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