Sting

     Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951), universally known by his stage name Sting, is an Academy Award-nominated sixteen time Grammy-winning English musician from Wallsend in North Tyneside. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal songwriter, lead singer and bass guitar player of the rock band The Police. As a solo musician and member of The Police, Sting has sold over 45 million records, and received over sixteen Grammy Awards for his work, receiving his first Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1981, and receiving an Oscar nomination for best song.
     Former lead singer for the Police, Sting embarked on a hugely successful solo career in 1985. He also acts in movies. The ex-Police man seems quite happy with his place as the grand old man of Adult Contemporary. Sting made his acting debut in 1979 as ‘Ace Face,’ the mod bell boy in the cult classic “Quadrophenia.” Sting gave strong performances in the movies Brimstone & Treacle and Stormy Monday. Though Sting was once a new wave superstar, today he counts light rockers Elton John and Billy Joel amongst his good friends.

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The Police

    The Police are a three-piece rock band consisting of Sting (vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar, vocals) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion, vocals). The band became globally popular in the early 1980s, playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz, reggae, ska, and punk music. Their 1983 album, Synchronicity, was number one in the UK and the US and sold over 8,000,000 copies in the US. The band broke up in the mid-1980s, but reunited in early 2007 with the announcement that they were undertaking a world tour. The tour was scheduled from the middle of that year on until mid-2008, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their hit single “Roxanne” and also, to a lesser extent, that of their formation as a group. To date The Police have sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Rolling Stone ranked The Police number 70 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
     They came from the punk-inspired, DIY scene in the late ’70s, but carefully crafted, reggae-tinged pop made them superstars. Since quietly calling it quits in 1986, the Police reunited for Sting’s wedding in 1992 and again in 2007 for a world tour. Guitarist Andy Sumners played with Eric Burdon’s New Animals in the late ’60s, way before he joined the Police. Sting was a former teacher and liked to drop literary references (from Nabakov to Carl Jung) into his pop songs. Before they recorded their debut, they were all asked to dye their hair blonde for a Wrigley’s gum advert. The color stuck.

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