Sting

Biographical Sketch

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born Wallsend, England, October 2, 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for new wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984. He launched a solo career in 1985, and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.

As a solo musician and a member of The Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards: he won Song of the Year for Every Breath You Take, three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, he received a BMI Award for Every Breath You Take becoming the most-played song in radio history. In 2002, Sting received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into 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 from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014, and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017.

With The Police, Sting became one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Solo and with The Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records.[] In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1’s 100 greatest artists of rock, and 80th of Q magazine’s 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century. He has collaborated with other musicians on songs such as Money for Nothing with Dire Straits, Rise & Fall with Craig David, All for Love with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, You Will Be My Ain True Love with Alison Krauss, and introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences through the hit song Desert Rose with Cheb Mami. In 2018, he released the album 44/876, a collaboration with Jamaican musician Shaggy, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2019.

Read more about Sting on Wikipedia.

Major Awards and Honors

Hall of Fame Inductions

Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame

• 2003: Member of The Police

Songwriters Hall of Fame

• 2002: Sting (individually)

Grammy Hall of Fame

• 2008: Rock Single – The Police: “Roxanne”
• 2009: Rock Album – The Police: “Synchronicity”

Others

Grammies

• 1981: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “Regatta de Blanc”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1982: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1982: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “Behind My Camel”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1984: Song of the Year – “Every Breath You Take”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1984: Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Every Breath You Take”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1984: Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal – “Synchronicity II”
  Grammy awarded to: The Police (Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland), artist.
• 1984: Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “Brimstone & Treacle”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 1987: Best Music Video, Long Form – “Bring on the Night”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 1988: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “Bring on the Night”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 1992: Best Rock Song – “The Soul Cages”
  Grammy awarded to:Sting, songwriter.
• 1994: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 1994: Best Music Video, Long Form – “Ten Summoner’s Tales”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist; Julie Fong, video producer; Doug Nichol, video director.
• 1994: Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical – “Ten Summoner’s Tales”
  Grammy awarded to:Hugh Padgham, engineer.
• 2000: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “Brand New Day”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 2000: Best Pop Vocal Album – “Brand New Day”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 2001: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance – “She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting, artist.
• 2004: Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals – “Whenever I Say Your Name”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting and Mary J. Blige, artists.
• 2019: Best Reggae Album – “44/876”
  Grammy awarded to: Sting and Shaggy, artists.

MTV Video Music Awards

• 1984: Best Cinematography in a Video – The Police: “Every Breath You Take”
  – Award to Daniel Pearl, director of photography.
• 1988: Best Cinematography in a Video – Sting: “We’ll Be Together”
  – Award to Bill Pope, director of photography.

American  Music Awards

• 2016: Award of Merit – Sting

Golden Globe Awards 
(Hollywood Foreign Press Association)

• 2002: Best Original Song – “Until”

Billboard Music Awards (USA)

• 2003: Century Award – Sting

Primetime Emmy Awards (USA)

• 2002: Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program – “A&E In Concert: Sting in Tuscany … All This Time”

American Screenwriters Association

• 2004: David Angeli Humaniatarian Award – Sting

Annie Awards (USA)

• 2001: Outstanding Individual Achievement for a Song in an Animated Production – “Perfect World”

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards (USA & Canada)

• 2001: Best Song – “My Funny Friend and Me”

Brit Awards

• 1988: Best British Album – “Nothing Like the Sun”
• 1994: Best British Male Solo Artist – Sting
• 2002: Outstanding Contribution to Music – Sting

BMI London Awards

• 2016: Icon Award – Sting

Ivor Novello Music Writing Awards (Great Britain)

• 1982: Best Pop Song – The Police: “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic”
• 1984: Best Song Musically And Lyrically – The Police: “Every Breath You Take”
• 1984: Most Performed Work – The Police: “Every Breath You Take”
• 1989: Best Song Musically And Lyrically – Sting: “They Dannce Alone”
• 1994: Best Song Musically And Lyrically – Sting: “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You”
• 2002: International Achievement – Sting

MOJO Awards

• 2004: Mondial Award – Sting

MY VH1 Music Awards

• 2000: Legend in Action – Sting

VH1

• 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll: #10 – The Police
• 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll: #63 – Sting

Rolling Stone Magazine

• 100 Greatest Artists of All Time: #70 – The Police
• 500 Greatest Albums of All Time:
  • #159 – The Police: “Synchronicity”
• 500 Greatest Songs of All Time:
  • #84 – The Police: “Every Breath You Take”
  • 388 – The Police: “Roxanne”

Discography

The Police

• Outlandos d’Amour (1978)
• Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
• Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
• Six Pack (1980)
• Ghost in the Machine (1981)
• Synchronicity (1983)
• Every Breath You Take: The Singles (1986)
• Their Greatest Hits (1990)
• Greatest Hits (1992)
• Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings (1993)
• Live! (1995)
• Every Breath You Take: The Classics (1995)
• The Very Best of Sting & The Police (1997)
• The Police (2007)
• Certifiable: Live in Buenos Aires (2008)
• The 50 Greatest Songs (2009)
• Every Move You Make: The Studio Recordings (2018)

Solo Releases

Albums

• The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)
• Bring on the Night (1986)
• … Nothing Like the Sun (1987)
• The Soul Cages (1991)
• Acoustic Live in Newcastle (1991)
• Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993)
• Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994 (1994)
• Mercury Falling (1996)
• At the Movies (1997)
• The Very Best of Sting & The Police (1997)
• Brand New Day (1999)
• Brand New Day: The Remixes (2000)
• Sacred Love (2003)
• The Journey and the Labyrinth (2007)
• Songs from the Labyrinth (2006)
• If on a Winter’s Night … (2009)
• Songs of Love (2003)
• My Funny Valentine: At the Movies (2008)
• Symphonicities (2010)
• Live in Berlin (2010)
• The Best of 25 Years (2011)
• The Last Ship (2013)
• Songs from the Movies and Rarities (2014)
• 57th & 9th (2016)
• Live at the Olympia Paris (2017)
• My Songs (2019)
• Duets (2021)

Collaborations and Appearances on Other Artists’s Albums

• Will Powers: Dancing For Mental Health (1983)
  – Song: Adventures in Success (co-writer)
• Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms (1985)
  – Song: Money for Nothing (backing vocals)
• Arcadia: So Red The Rose (1985)
  – Song: The Promise (backing vocals)
• Phil Collins: No Jacket Required (1985)
  – Songs: Long Long Way To Go and Take Me Home (backing vocals)
• Miles Davis: You’re Under Arrest (1985)
  – Song: One Phone Call (French policeman”s voice)
• Music From ‘Video Magic’ & ‘Flashback’ (1986)
  – Collaboration with Eberhard Schoener and Andy Summers.
• Frank Zappa: Broadway the Hard Way (1989)
  – Song: Murder by Numbers
• Andy Summers: Charming Snakes (1990)
  – Song: Charming Snakes (bass)
• Luciano Pavarotti: Pavarotti & Friends (1992)
  – Songs: Muoio per te, It: Probably Me and Panus Angelicus
• Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe: Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and other works (1992)
  – Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf (narration)
• Vanessa Williams: The Sweetest Days (1994)
  – Song: Sister Moon (backing vocals)
• Joe Henderson: Porgy & Bess (1997)
  – Song: It Ain’t Necessarily So
• David Sanborn: Inside (1999)
  – Song: Ain’t No Sunshine
• Elton John and Tim Rice: Aida (1999)
  – Song: Another Pyramid
• Andy Summers: Green Chimneys: The Music Of Thelonious Monk (1999)
  – Song: ‘Round Midnight
• Chris Botti: Slowing Down the World (1999)
  – Song: In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning
• Youssou N’Dour: Joko – From Village To Town (2000)
  – Song: Don’t Walk Away
• Danny Paradise: River of the Soul (2000)
  – Song: Searching for the Holy Grail (backing vocals)
• Jools Holland: Small World Big Band (2001)
  – Song: Seventh Son
• Cheb Mami: Dellali (2001)
  – Song: Le Rai C’est Chic
• Earl Scruggs: Earl Scruggs And Friends (2001)
  – Song: Fill Her Up
• George Dalaras: The Running Roads (2001)
  – Song: Mad About You
• Jimmy Cliff: Fantastic Plastic People (2002)
  – Song: People
• Lulu: Together (2002)
  – Song: Sail On, Sailor
• Dominic Miller: Shapes (2003)
  – Songs: Shape of My Heart and Ave Maria
• Sugababes: Angels with Dirty Faces (2003)
  – Song: Shape (backing vocals)
• Chris Botti: When I Fall in Love (2004)
  – Song: La Belle Dame Sans Regrets (with Dominic Miller)
• Jimmy Cliff: Black Magic (2004)
  – Song: People
• Bruce Hornsby: Halcyon Days (2004)
  – Songs: Gonna Be Some Changes Made and Halcyon Days
• Zucchero: Zu & Co. (2004)
  – Song: Muoio Per Te
• Herbie Hancock: Possibilities (2005)
  – Song: Sister Moon
• The Black Eyed Peas: Monkey Business (2005)
  – Song: Union
• Les Paul & Friends: American Made World Played (2005)
  – Song: Love Sneakin’ Up On You (with Joss Stone)
• Brodsky Quartet: Moodswings (2005)
  – Song: Until …
• t.A.T.u.: Dangerous and Moving (2005)
  – Song: Friend or Foe
• Tony Bennett: Duets: An American Classic (2006)
  – Song: The Boulevard of Broken Dreams
• Sam Moore: Overnight Sensational (2006)
  – Song: None of Us Are Free (with Sheila E.)
• Steve Nieve and Muriel Teodori: Welcome to the Voice (with Barbara Bonney, Robert Wyatt, Elvis Costello, Brodsky Quartet) (2007)
  – Songs: Prologue of Dionysos, Unfailing Welcome to the Voice, To Be Is Strong, The Desire of Dionysos, Distanciation and The Unlikely Duet
• Anoushka Shankar/Karsh Kale: Breathing Under Water (2007)
  – Song: Sea Dreamer
• Chris Botti: To Love Again: The Duets (2008)
  – Song: What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
• Charles Aznavour: Duos (2009)
  – Songs: L’amour c’est comme un jour and Love Is New Everyday
• Joshua Bell: At Home with Friends (2009)
  – Song: Come Again
• Chris Botti in Boston (2009)
  – Songs: Seven Days (live version), If I Ever Lose My Faith in You (live version) and Shape of My Heart (live version)
• Edin Karamazov: The Lute is a Song (2009)
  – Song: Alone with My Thoughts This Evening
• Nicole Scherzinger: Killer Love (2011)
  – Song: Power’s Out
• Matthew Morrison: self-titled album (2011)
  – Song: Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
• Afrojack: Forget the World (2014)
  – Song: Catch Tomorrow
• Ivy Levan: No Good (2015)
  – Song: Killing You
• Sting and Shaggy: 44/876 (2018)
  – Collaboration album.
• Ricky Martin: Pausa (2020)
  – Song: Simple
• Melody Gardot: Sunset in the Blue (2020)
  – Song: Little Something

Compilations and Soundtrack Contributions

• Brimstone & Treacle (1982)
  – Songs: Brimstone & Treacle, How Stupid Mr. Bates (with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers), Only You (with Dennis Potter), I Burn for You, You Know I had the Strangest Dream, A Kind of Loving (with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers), Brimstone 2, and Narration (with Dennis Potter).
• Live For Life (limited-release charity album) (1986)
  – Song: I Been Down So Long
• Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
  – Song: Someone to Watch Over Me
• A Very Special Christmas (1987)
  – Song: Gabriel’s Message
• The Soldier’s Tale – Histoire Du Soldat – Geschichte Vom Soldaten (1988)
  – The Soldier’s Tale (Igor Stravinsky) – The Soldier
• Disney: For Our Children (1991)
  – Song: Cushie Butterfield
• Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin (1991)
  – Song: Come Down in Time
• Grammy’s Greatest Moments Volume I (1994)
  – Song: Russians (live version)
• Grammy’s Greatest Moments Volume IV (1994)
  – Song: Someone to Watch Over Me (live version)
• Sabrina (1995)
  – Song: Moonlight
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
  – Songs: Angel Eyes, My One And Only Love and It’s A Lonesome Old Town
• The Chieftains’s album The Long Black Veil (1995)
  – Song: Mo Ghile Mear (Our Hero)
• Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (1995)
  – Song: Sisters of Mercy (with The Chieftains)
• Gentlemen Don’t Eat Poets (1995)
  – Song: This Was Never Meant to Be
• A Very Special Christmas 3 (1997)
  – Song: I Saw Three Ships
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)
  – Song: Windmills of Your Mind
• The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
  – Song: My Funny Friend and Me
• A Love Affair: Music of Ivan Lins (2000)
  – Song: She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
  – Song: Until …
• America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001)
  – Song: Fragile (live version)
• Cold Mountain (2003)
  – Song: You Will Be My Ain True Love (with Alison Krauss)
• Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix (2004)
  – Song: The Wind Cries Mary
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)
  – Song: We’ll Be Together (with Annie Lennox)
• Unity: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album (2004)
  – Song: A Thousand Years (with Mariza)
• Racing Stripes (2005)
  – Song: Taking the Inside Rail
• Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now (2005)
  – Song: Moon Over Bourbon Street (live version with Chris Botti)
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert album (2009)
  – Songs: Higher Ground / Roxanne (with Stevie Wonder) and People Get Ready (with Jeff Beck)
• A MusiCares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (DVD) (2014)
  – Song: Lonesome Day

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Ten Summner’s Tales

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Nothing Like the Sun

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The Dream of the Blue Turtles

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All This Time

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The Very Best of Sting & The Police

From the Lyrics

Russians

(Album: The Dream of the Blue Turtles)

“In Europe and America there’s a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Khrushchev said, ‘We will bury you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It’d be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent to put
The words in the mouth of the president
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore
Mister Reagan says ‘We will protect you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too”

Moon Over Bourbon Street

(Album: The Dream of the Blue Turtles)

There’s a moon
Over Bourbon Street tonight
I see faces as they pass
Beneath the pale lamplight
I’ve no choice
But to follow that call
The bright lights, the people
And the moon and all

I pray everyday
To be strong
For I know what I do
Must be wrong
Oh, you’ll never see my shade
Or hear the sound of my feet
While there’s a moon
Over Bourbon Street

It was many years ago
That I became what I am
I was trapped in this life
Like an innocent lamb
Now I can never show
My face at noon
And you’ll only see me walking
By the light of the moon

The brim of my hat
Hides the eye of a beast
I’ve the face of a sinner
But the hands of a priest
Oh, you’ll never see my shade
Or hear the sound of my feet
While there’s a moon
Over Bourbon Street

She walks everyday
Through the streets of New Orleans
She’s innocent and young
From a family of means
I have stood many times
Outside her window at night
To struggle with my instinct
In the pale moonlight

How could I be this way
When I pray to God above?
I must love what I destroy
And destroy the thing I love
Oh, you’ll never see my shade
Or hear the sound of my feet
While there’s a moon
Over Bourbon Street

Englishman in New York

(Album: Nothing Like the Sun)

“I don’t drink coffee I take tea my dear
I like my toast done on one side
And you can hear it in my accent when I talk
I’m an Englishman in New York
[…]

I’m an alien, I’m a legal alien
I’m an Englishman in New York
[…]

If “Manners maketh man” as someone said
Then he’s the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say

[…]

Modesty, propriety can lead to notoriety
You could end up as the only one
Gentleness, sobriety are rare in this society
At night a candle’s brighter than the sun

Takes more than combat gear to make a man
Takes more than a license for a gun
Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can
A gentleman will walk but never run

If “Manners maketh man” as someone said
Then he’s the hero of the day
It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
Be yourself no matter what they say”

Fragile

(Album: Nothing Like the Sun)

“If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow’s rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime’s argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are”

Links

Sting

• Sting’s official website
• Sting’s artist page at Universal Music Group
• Sting’s artist page On A&M Records
• Sting’s artist page at Polydor
• Sting’s Songwriters Hall of Fame biography
• Sting’s Billboard Magazine profile
• Sting’s Allmusic Guide biography
• Sting at Britannica.com
• Sting at The Guardian
•  
• Reviews and blog posts related to Sting on this blog, Lioness at Large

The Police

• The Police’s official website
• Andy Summers’s official website
• Stewart Copeland’s official website
• The Police Fansite’s Facebook page
• The Police’s Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame biography
• The Police’s Billboard Magazine profile
• The Police’s Allmusic Guide biography
• The Police at Britannica.com
•  
• Reviews and blog posts related to The Police on this blog, Lioness at Large