Sting | Artist
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE aka Sting is an English musician, activist and actor born 1951 in Wallsend, UK. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977-86, then launched a solo career and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. 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's 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century. Sting came from a working-class background, growing up near Wallsend's shipyards, the eldest of four children. His mother was a hairdresser, and father a milkman and former fitter at an engineering works. Young Gordon helped his father deliver milk and by ten was "obsessed" with an old Spanish guitar left by a family friend. While attending Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne he visited nightclubs to see bands such as Cream and Manfred Mann. After leaving school, he attended the University of Warwick briefly but left and took jobs as a bus conductor, building labourer, and tax officer. He attended the Northern Counties College from 1971-74 and qualified as a teacher. He then taught at St Paul's First School in Cramlington for two years. In the evenings and during breaks from teaching, Sting performed at nightclubs, playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after his habit of wearing a black and yellow jumper with hooped stripes with the Phoenix Jazzmen. Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee (according to Sting "they thought I looked like a wasp"), which prompted the name "Sting." In January 1977, he moved to London and together with Stewart Copeland, formed the Police. From 1978-83, they had five UK chart-topping albums, won six Grammy Awards and won two Brit Awards, becoming one of the world's biggest bands. Their final album Synchronicity was nominated for five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year in 1983. It included their most successful song, "Every Breath You Take", written by Sting. In 1978, Sting collaborated with members of Hawkwind and Gong as the Radio Actors on the one-off single "Nuclear Waste". In September 1981, he made his first live solo appearance, four nights of the 4th Amnesty International benefit The Secret Policeman's Other Ball in London's Drury Lane theatre, performing solo versions of "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle". He also led an all-star band on Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". The band and chorus included Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Robin Gibb, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, many of whom later performed at Live Aid. 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", "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Love Is the Seventh Wave" and "Russians". Within a year, it reached Triple Platinum and received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year, Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Recording. Sting continues an illustrious career as a musician and actor, releasing 16 studio albums, and appearing in movies, TV, radio broadcasts, and film soundtracks, perhaps highlighted by his role as "Ace the Face" in the Who's rock-opera Quadrophenia. Standout albums include The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985), Nothing Like the Sun (1987), The Soul Cages (1991), Ten Summoner's Tales (1993), and the live album Bring on the Night (1986). Outside of music, Sting is a high profile advocate and activist for human rights movements such as Amnesty International, Band Aid, and the Rainforest Foundation Fund, which he founded. In 1969, Sting read the Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake and later bought the film rights. He named pets, a racehorse, his publishing company and one of his daughters Fuschia after characters from the books.
Artist Website : sting.com
Featured Albums: Sting
Related Artists: The Police, Strontium 90, Band Aid
