In 1977, Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, formed the rock/pop
band The Police in London. The group had several chart topping albums
and won six Grammy Awards in the early 1980s, including their arguably
best well-known song, Every Breath You Take. Their last album, Synchronicity
was released in 1983. The Police attempted a reunion in 1986 with
re-recording of their song "Don't Stand So Close to Me",
but did not stay together.
Sting has occasionally ventured into acting. He made his film debut
in 1979's Quadrophenia. Apart from playing a devil-like character
in Brimstone and Treacle (1982), one of his more famous roles was
that of Feyd-Rautha in the 1984 film adaptation of Dune. More recently,
he appeared in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.
He has also made appearances on television (including guest spots
on The Simpsons and Ally McBeal) and stage. Most of his later credits
in films and TV are for his music.
1985's The Dream of the Blue Turtles was Sting's first solo album.
It included the hit single "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free".
Within a year, it reached Triple Platinum. Sting released Nothing
Like the Sun (1987), including the hit songs "We'll Be Together"
and "Be Still My Beating Heart", dedicated to his recently
deceased mother. It eventually went Double Platinum and was recognized
as one of the most important rock & roll albums of the 1980s.
In the late 1980s, Sting strongly supported environmentalism and
humanitarian movements, including Amnesty International. With long-time
girlfriend Trudie Styler and a Kayapó Indian leader in Brazil,
he founded the Rainforest Foundation to help save the rainforests.
His support for these causes continues to this day.
His 1991 album The Soul Cages was dedicated to his recently deceased
father and included the top 10 song "All this Time" and
the Grammy winning "Soul Cages". The album eventually
went Platinum. The following year, he married Trudie Styler and
was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in music from Northumbria
University. In 1993, he released the album Ten Summoner's Tales,
which went Triple Platinum in just over a year. In May, he released
a remix of The Police's song "Demolition Man" for the
Demolition Man film.
Sting reached a pinnacle of success in 1994. Together with Bryan
Adams and Rod Stewart, they performed the chart-topping song "All
For Love" from the film The Three Musketeers. The song stayed
at the top of the U.S. charts for five weeks and went Platinum;
it is to date Sting's only song from his post-Police career to top
the U.S. charts. In February, he won two more Grammy Awards and
was nominated for three more. The Berklee College of Music gave
him his second honorary doctorate of music degree in May. Finally
in November, he released a greatest hits compilation called Fields
of Gold: The Best of Sting, which was eventually certified Double
Platinum.
Sting's 1996 album, Mercury Falling debuted strongly, but dropped
quickly on the charts. Yet, 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). In 1998, he appeared
in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Sting made a (partial) comeback with the September 1999 album Brand
New Day, including the Top 40 hits "Brand New Day" and
"Desert Rose" (Top 10). 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 Cheb Mami. For his performance, the
Arab-American Institute Foundation gave him the Kahlil Gibran Spirit
of Humanity Award.
Sting kicked off 2001 with a performance during the Super Bowl's
half time show. He added another Grammy to his collection in February.
In April, while landing in Italy, his plane skidded off the runway,
but he was not injured. His song "After the Rain has Fallen"
made it into the Top 40. On September 11, he recorded a new live
album in Italy, but the Internet simulcast was canceled after the
terrorist attack on New York. Later, Sting performed "Fragile"
for the fundraiser America: A Tribute to Heroes. His live album,
All This Time, recorded on a moonlit night in Tuscany, was released
in November but did not gather healthy sales figures. All This Time
featured jazzy reworkings of Sting favorites like "Roxanne"
and "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free".
2002 was a year of awards for Sting. He won a Golden Globe Award
and was nominated for his second Academy Award for his song "Until..."
from the film Kate & Leopold. In June, he was inducted into
the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Late in the year, it was announced
that The Police would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in March 2003.
2003 also saw the release of Sacred Love, an original studio album
with racier beats and experiments collaborating with hip-hop artist
Mary J. Blige and sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar. Some songs like
"Inside" and "Dead Man's Rope" were well received,
but overall the sounds suffer from a repetitiveness that lead many
to believe that Sting is past his best.
Sting married actress Frances Tomelty in 1976. The couple had two
children before their divorce in 1982. Soon after, he began living
with actress (and later film producer) Trudie Styler but did not
marry until 1992. Sting and Trudie have had four children. His son
with Frances, Joseph, is following in his father's footsteps as
a musician. Though Sting reportedly owns several properties in the
United Kingdom and the United States, he currently calls Tuscany
his home.
It is unclear whether he was serious or (rather) not when he referred
to himself as "manic-depressive". He has written also
a song entitled "Lithium Sunset", which appears to refer
to lithium carbonate, a treatment for the disorder. According to
some reports he wanted so to help people which have this disease
really.
In the summer of 2003, Sumner was made a Commander in the Order
of the British Empire. Later that year, he published his autobiography,
Broken Music.
Also in 2003, Sumner was placed 81st on the 100 Worst Britons list
by polls conducted by Britain's Channel Four.
Sting embarked on a Sacred Love tour in 2004 with performances by
Annie Lennox.
Discography
1985 "The Dream of Blue Turtles" #3 UK, #2 US, US Sales:
3,000,000
1986 "Bring On the Night" #16 UK
1987 "Nothing Like the Sun" #1 UK, #9 US, US Sales: 2,000,000
1988 "Nada Como el Sol"
1991 "Soul Cages" #1 UK, #2 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
1993 "Ten Summoner's Tales" #2 UK, #2 US, US Sales: 3,000,000
1994 "Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994" #2
UK, #7 US, US Sales: 2,000,000
1996 "Mercury Falling" #4 UK, #5 US, US Sales: 1,000,000
1997 "The Very Best of Sting & The Police" #1 UK,
#46 US (both positions for the 2002 re-issue)
1999 "Brand New Day" #5 UK, #9 US, US Sales: 3,000,000
1999 "At the Movies" (Japanese release)
2001 "All This Time" (live) #3 UK, #32 US, US Sales: 500,000
2003 "Sacred Love" #3 UK, #3 US, US Sales: 500,000
Hit
singles
from Brimstone and Treacle soundtrack
1982 "Spread a Little Happiness" #16 UK
from The Dream of Blue Turtles
1985 "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" #26 UK, #3 US
1985 "Russians" #12 UK, #16 US
1985 "Fortress Around Your Heart" #8 US
1985 "Love Is the Seventh Wave" #17 US
from Nothing Like the Sun
1987 "We'll Be Together" #7 US
1988 "Be Still My Beating Heart" #15 US
1990 "Englishman In New York" (remix) #15 UK
from The Soul Cages
1991 "All This Time" #22 UK, #5 US
from Ten Summoner's Tales
1992 "It's Probably Me" (with Eric Clapton) #30 UK
1993 "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" #14 UK, #17 US
1993 "Seven Days" #25 UK
1993 "Fields of Gold" #16 UK, #23 US
non-album single
1993 "Demolition Man" #21 UK
from The Three Musketeers soundtrack
1994 "All for Love" (with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart)
#2 UK, #1 US
from Ten Summoner's Tales
1994 "Nothing 'Bout Me" #32 UK
from Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994
1994 "When We Dance" #9 UK, #38 US
1995 "This Cowboy Song" (feat. Pato Banton) #15 UK
from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls soundtrack
1996 "Spirits in the Material World" (Pato Banton feat.
Sting) #36 UK
from Mercury Falling
1996 "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" #15 UK
1996 "You Still Touch Me" #27 UK
1996 "I Was Brought to My Senses" #31 UK
from The Very Best of Sting & The Police
1997 "Roxanne '97" (remix) (with The Police) #17 UK
from Brand New Day
1999 "Brand New Day" #13 UK
2000 "Desert Rose" (feat. Cheb Mami) #15 UK, #17 US
2000 "After the Rain Has Fallen" #31 UK
from Slicker Than Your Average (Craig David album)
2003 "Rise & Fall" (Craig David feat. Sting) #2 UK
from Sacred Love
2003 "Send Your Love" #30 UK
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