Sting Biography
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE was born on 2 October 1951. He is commonly known as Sting as his stage name. He is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band the Police from 1977 to 1985, and launched a solo career in 1986.
He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and world-beat in his music. As a solo musician and a member of the Police, he has received 16 Grammy Awards (his first in the category of best rock instrumental in 1980, for “Reggatta de Blanc”), three Brit Awards, including Best British Male in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
In 2002, he 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, including “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 his international hit “Desert Rose” with Cheb Mami.
Sting Age
Sting was born on 2 October 1951. He is 66 years old as of 2018.
Sting Wife
Sting married Frances Tomelty in 1976 and later divorced in 1984. He remarried in 1992 to Trudie Styler.
Sting Children
Sting is father to
- Eliot Paulina Sumner, daughter
- Joe Sumner,son
- Jake Sumner, son
- Mickey Sumner, daughter
- Fuchsia Sumner, daughter
- Giacmo Sumner, son
Sting Musician
1977–1986: The Police and early solo work.
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. 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.
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 ” Everest”. 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 did reform and undertook a world tour.
Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and two Sting songs, “Every Breath You Take” and “Roxanne”, appeared on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 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. They were also included in Rolling Stone’s and VH1’s lists of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
In 1978, Sting collaborated with members of Hawkwind and Gong as the Radio Actors on the one-off single “Nuclear Waste”. 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.
1985–1989: Solo debut
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 Kijé Suite. 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.
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. In July 1985, Sting performed Police hits at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in London. He also joined Dire Straits in “Money for Nothing”, and he sang two duets with Phil Collins. 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. The 1985 film Bring on the Night, directed by Michael Apted, documented the formation of his solo band and its first concert in France.
Sting released …Nothing Like the Sun in 1987, including singles, “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 Hanns Eisler, and “Englishman In New York” was about Quentin Crisp. The album’s title is from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130. The album won Best British Album at the 1988 Brit Awards and in 1989 received three Grammy nominations 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 album Synchronicity was ranked number 17 on Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.
In February 1988 he made Nada como el sol, five songs from Sun he sang in Spanish and Portuguese. In 1987 jazz arranger Gil Evans placed him 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, Ian McKellen and Sting as the soldier.
1990–1997: Greater solo success
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 album also included an Italian version of Mad About You. The text was written by his friend Zucchero Fornaciari. The song was then included in Overdose d’amore/The Ballads (1999) and in Zu & Co. (2004) of the Italian blues-man.
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. The album was recorded at his Elizabethan country 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”, a song inspired by the barley fields next to his Wiltshire home, with the music video featuring a silhouette of Sting walking through a village containing common features seen throughout the UK such as a red telephone box, 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.
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, Sting performed “All for Love” for the film The Three Musketeers. The song stayed at the top of the U.S. charts for three weeks, topped multiple other charts worldwide, and reached number two in the UK. In February, he won two Grammy Awards and was nominated for three more. Berklee College of Music awarded him his second honorary doctorate of music in May. In November, he released the compilation, Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting, which was certified Double Platinum. That year, he sang with Vanessa Williams on “Sister Moon” and appeared on her album The Sweetest Days. At the 1994 Brit Awards in London, he was Best British Male.
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, as the changes resulted in some songs not being 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/artist Tom 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.. 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.
1998–2004: Brand New Day and soundtrack work.
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, My Funny Friend and Me, was his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Song. 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.
In 2002, he won a Golden Globe Award for “Until…” from the film Kate and Leopold. Written and performed by him, “Until…” was his second nomination for an Academy Award for Best Song. At the 2002 Brit Awards in February, Sting received the prize for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In May 2002 he received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. In June he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2003 Sting was made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire For services to the Music Industry. 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.
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 Bach’s Praeambulum 1 C-Major (BWV 924) from the Klavierbuechlein fuer Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, though Sting said little about this adaptation. The album did not have the hit singles like his previous releases. In 2004, he was nominated for the third time for an Academy Award for Best Song, for “You Will Be My Ain True Love,” from Cold Mountain, sung in duet with Alison Krauss. The pair performed the song at the 76th Academy Awards.
His autobiography Broken Music was published in October. He embarked on a Sacred Love tour in 2004 with performances by Annie Lennox. 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.
2006–2010: Experimental albums and the Police reunion.
In 2006, Sting was on the Gregg Kofi Brown album, with “Lullaby to an Anxious Child” produced and arranged by Lino Nicolosi and Pino Nicolos of Nicolosi Productions.
In October 2006, he released an album entitled Songs from the Labyrinth featuring the music of John Dowland (an Elizabethan-era composer) and accompaniment from Bosnian lute player Edin Karamazov. Sting’s interpretation of this English Renaissance composer and his cooperation with Edin Karamazov brought recognition in classical music. 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.
The last concert was at Madison 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 while different music was played. “Brand New Day” was the final song of the night for the Neighborhood Ball, one of ten inaugural balls honouring President Barack Obama on Inauguration Day, 20 January 2009. Sting was joined by Stevie Wonder on harmonica.
Sting entered the studio in early February 2009 to begin work on a new album, If on a Winter’s Night…, released in October 2009. Initial reviews by fans that had access to early promotional copies were mixed, and some questioned Sting’s artistic direction with this album. In 2009, Sting appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th anniversary concert, playing “Higher Ground” and “Roxanne” with Stevie Wonder and “People Get Ready” with Jeff Beck. Sting himself was inducted in 2003, as a member of the Police.
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.
Sting Performing2010–2016: The Last Ship and joint tours with Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel.
In 2010–2011, Sting continued his Symphonicity Tour, touring South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Europe. In the second half of 2011, Sting began his Back to Bass Tour, which would continue (with periodic breaks) through 2013. In October 2010, Sting played two concerts in Arnhem, Netherlands, for Symphonica in Rosso. In 2011, Time magazine named Sting one of the 100 most influential people in the world. On 26 April he performed “Every Breath You Take”, “Roxanne” and “Desert Rose” at the Time 100 Gala in New York City.
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. 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.
For several years, Sting worked on a musical, The Last Ship, inspired by Sting’s own childhood experiences and the shipbuilding industry in Wallsend. 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. Sting’s eleventh studio album, titled The Last Ship and inspired by the play, was released on 24 September 2013. The album features guest artists with roots in northeast England, including Brian Johnson, vocalist from AC/DC.
In February 2014, Sting embarked on a joint concert tour titled On Stage Together with Paul Simon, playing 21 concerts in North America. The tour continued in early 2015, with ten shows in Australia and New Zealand, and 23 concerts in Europe, ending on 18 April 2015. On 26 June 2015 in Bergen, Norway (at the Bergen Calling Festival), Sting embarked on a 21-date Summer 2015 solo tour of Europe in Trondheim, Norway (at the Olavsfestdagene), visiting Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Sweden.
On 28 August 2015, “Stolen Car”, a duet with French singer Mylène Farmer was released. It is a cover from Sting’s 2003 seventh solo studio album Sacred Love and will serve as the first single from Farmer’s tenth studio album, Interstellaires. On its release, the song went straight to number 1 over French iTunes music download charts, subsequently hitting number 1 on the main French singles chart and giving Sting his first number 1 in France.
On 19 January 2016, Sting announced a new (19-date) joint concert (summer) tour of North America titled Rock Paper Scissors North American Tour, this time with Peter Gabriel.
2016–2017: 57th & 9th
On 18 July 2016, Sting’s first rock album in many years was announced. 57th & 9th was released on 11 November 2016. The title is a reference to the New York City intersection he crossed every day to get to the studio where much of the album was recorded. It has contributions by long-time band members Vinnie Colaiuta and Dominic Miller, and Jerry Fuentes and Diego Navaira of the Last Bandoleros. The album was produced by Sting’s manager, Martin Kierszenbaum.
On 9 November 2016, Sting performed two shows at Irving Plaza, in Manhattan, New York City, playing songs from 57th & 9th for the first time live in concert: a “57th & 9th iHeartRadio Album Release Party” show, and a Sting Fan Club Member Exclusive Show later that night.
On 4 November 2016, the Bataclan management announced that Sting would perform an exclusive concert in Paris on 12 November 2016 for the re-opening of the Bataclan, backed by a 3-piece band including Dominic Miller (guitar), Vinnie Colaiuta (drums) and Rufus Miller (guitar). Sting performed seven songs from his new album 57th & 9th.[nb 1] The Police’s former guitar player, French native Henry Padovani, joined the band on stage for “Next to You”, one of the final encore.
On 14 November 2016, Sting announced a Theatre, Club and Arena Tour in North America and Europe in support of the release of his latest studio album 57th & 9th (with special guests Joe Sumner and the Last Bandoleros) due to start on 1 February 2017 in Vancouver, British Columbia (at the Commodore Ballroom) and to end on 13 April 2017 in Paris (at L’Olympia).
In 2017, Sting was announced as the joint winner of the Polar Music Prize. The award committee stated: “As a composer, Sting has combined classic pop with virtuoso musicianship and an openness to all genres and sounds from around the world.” On 1 February 2017, Sting embarked on the 57th & 9th Tour. The tour began at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, Canada. In 2018 he scheduled a musical and story-telling performance at the Metropolitan Museum of Art honouring Hudson River School artist Thomas Cole.
2018–present: 44/876
On 25 January 2018, it was announced the forthcoming release on 20 April 2018 of 44/876, Sting and Shaggy’s first studio album as a duo. On 7 February 2018 Sting performed as special guest at the important Italian Sanremo Music Festival 2018, singing “Muoio per te”, the Italian version of “Mad About You”, the lyrics of which were written by the friend and colleague Zucchero Fornaciari, and “Don’t Make Me Wait” with Shaggy.
Sting Tour 2017
Sting New Album
Sting’s latest album is 44/816
Sting Band
Sting played in the following band groups:
- The Police: 1977-2008
- Band Aid– 1984-1984
- Strontium 90- 1977-1977
- Last exit– 1977
Sting Music
The Police
- Outlandos d’Amour (1978)
- Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
- Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
- Ghost in the Machine (1981)
- Synchronicity (1983)
Solo albums
- 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)
- 57th & 9th (2016)
Collaborations
- 44/876 (2018) (with Shaggy)
Sting Live
Sting Albums
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
AUS |
AUT |
FRA |
GER |
NLD |
NOR |
SWE |
SWI |
US |
|||
The Dream of the Blue Turtles |
|
3 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
|
…Nothing Like the Sun |
|
1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 9 |
|
The Soul Cages |
|
1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
|
Ten Summoner’s Tales |
|
2 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 2 |
|
Mercury Falling |
|
4 | 14 | 1 | 35 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
|
Brand New Day |
|
5 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
|
Sacred Love |
|
3 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
|
Songs from the Labyrinth |
|
24 | — | 40 | 20 | 11 | 39 | — | 30 | 31 | 25 |
|
If on a Winter’s Night… |
|
15 | 58 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 12 | 13 | 6 |
|
Symphonicities |
|
30 | 24 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 22 | — | 30 | 15 | 6 | |
The Last Ship |
|
14 | 39 | 8 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 | 9 | 13 | |
57th & 9th |
|
15 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 7 | — | 6 | 3 | 9 |
|
44/876 (with Shaggy) |
|
9 | 38 |
6 | 2 | 1 | 16 | — | — | 5 | 40 |
Live albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
AUS |
AUT |
FRA |
GER |
NLD |
NOR |
NZL |
SWE |
SWI |
US |
|||
Bring on the Night |
|
16 | 9 | 9 | — | 10 | 2 | 19 | 19 | 28 | 11 | — |
|
Acoustic Live in Newcastle |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
…All This Time |
|
3 | 68 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 21 | 29 | 10 | 32 |
|
The Journey and the Labyrinth |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Live in Berlin |
|
22 | 79 | 13 | 37 | 40 | 7 | — | 51 | — |
|
||
Live at the Olympia Paris |
|
— | — | — | — | 77 | 4 | — | — | — | 1 | — | |
“—” denotes releases that did not chart or not released to that country |
Compilation albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK |
AUS |
AUT |
GER |
NLD |
NOR |
NZL |
SWE |
SWI |
US |
|||
Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994 |
|
2 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 |
|
At the Movies |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
The Very Best of Sting & The Police |
|
1 | 22 | 4 | 18 | 17 | — | 5 | 26 | 17 | 46 |
|
Brand New Day: The Remixes |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Songs of Love |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
My Funny Valentine: At the Movies |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
25 Years (3CD + 1DVD) |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
The Best of 25 Years |
|
27 | — | 29 | 32 | 16 | 4 | — | 13 | 50 | 104 | |
Songs From The Movies And Rarities (2CD) |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
“—” denotes releases that did not chart or not released to that country |
Extended plays
Title | EP details | Peak chart positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS |
GER | SWI | US | ||
Nada como el sol |
|
— | — | — | 18 | — |
Demolition Man |
|
21 | 71 | — | — | 162 |
Five Live |
|
— | — | — | — | — |
Live at TFI Friday EP |
|
53 | — | — | — | — |
Still Be Love in the World |
|
— | — | — | — | — |
Sting And The Police
The Police were a British rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and are generally regarded as one of the first new-wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. They are also considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the United States. They disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour that ended in August 2008.
Sting Lyrics
The first-ever compendium of Sting’s lyrics, from 1978’s “Oulandos d’Amour”—The Police’s debut album–through his solo career and including his work on the 2003 original CD, “Sacred Love.” Illustrated throughout and organized album by album, “Lyrics” is a gift book that sings. (Music)
Originally published: 2007
Author: Sting
Sting Singles
1980’s
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS | FRA | GER | IRE | NLD | SWI | US | |||
“Spread a Little Happiness” | 1982 | 16 | 80 | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack |
“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” | 1985 | 26 | 18 | 23 | — | 15 | 38 | — | 3 | The Dream of the Blue Turtles |
“Love Is the Seventh Wave” | 41 | 57 | 30 | — | 25 | 10 | — | 17 | ||
“Fortress Around Your Heart” | 49 | 72 | — | — | — | 26 | — | 8 | ||
“Russians” | 12 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 16 | ||
“Moon over Bourbon Street” | 1986 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
“We Work the Black Seam” [Germany-only release] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“We’ll Be Together” | 1987 | 41 | 13 | 46 | — | 14 | 33 | — | 7 | …Nothing Like the Sun |
“Be Still My Beating Heart” | 1988 | — | 94 | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | |
“Englishman in New York” | 51 | — | 30 | — | 12 | 13 | — | 84 | ||
“Fragile” | 70 | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | ||
“They Dance Alone” | 94 | — | — | 66 | — | 27 | — | — | ||
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
1990’s
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS | FRA | GER | IRE | NLD | SWI | US | |||
“Englishman in New York” (The Ben Liebrand Mix) | 1990 | 15 | 156 | — | 20 | — | 60 | — | — | Non-album single |
“All This Time” | 1991 | 22 | 26 | 21 | 23 | 13 | 22 | 18 | 5 | The Soul Cages |
“Mad About You” | 56 | 109 | 43 | 59 | — | 44 | — | — | ||
“The Soul Cages” | 57 | 135 | — | — | — | 77 | — | — | ||
“Why Should I Cry for You” | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“It’s Probably Me” (with Eric Clapton) | 1992 | 30 | 23 | 4 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 20 | Lethal Weapon 3 soundtrack |
“If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” | 1993 | 14 | 41 | 39 | 31 | 28 | 30 | 16 | 17 | Ten Summoner’s Tales |
“Seven Days” | 25 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“She’s Too Good for Me” [France-only release] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“Fields of Gold” | 16 | 85 | — | 52 | 22 | 44 | 25 | 23 | ||
“Nothing ‘Bout Me” | 32 | — | — | — | — | 41 | — | 57 | ||
“Shape of My Heart” | 57 | — | 96 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)” | — | — | — | 75 | — | — | — | — | ||
“All for Love” (with Bryan Adams & Rod Stewart) | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The Three Musketeers soundtrack | |
“When We Dance” | 1994 | 9 | 110 | — | 51 | 9 | 32 | 42 | 38 | Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984–1994 |
“This Cowboy Song” | 1995 | 15 | 88 | — | 51 | 19 | 48 | — | — | |
“Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot” | 1996 | 15 | 65 | — | 58 | — | 43 | — | 86 | Mercury Falling |
“You Still Touch Me” | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 60 | ||
“I Was Brought to My Senses” | 31 | 133 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” | 54 | 133 | — | 74 | — | — | — | 94 | ||
“Roxanne ’97” (Sting & The Police) | 1997 | 17 | — | — | — | — | 69 | — | 59 | The Very Best of Sting & The Police |
“Brand New Day” | 1999 | 13 | 309 | 73 | 54 | — | 46 | 35 | 103 | Brand New Day |
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
2000’s
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS | BEL (WA) |
FRA | GER | IRE | NLD | SWI | US | |||
“Desert Rose” (with Cheb Mami) | 2000 | 15 | 67 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 29 | 3 | 17 | Brand New Day |
“After the Rain Has Fallen” | 31 | — | — | 89 | 64 | 46 | — | — | — | ||
“My Funny Friend and Me” [European-only release] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 91 | — | The Emperor’s New Groove soundtrack | |
“Fragile (2001)” | 2001 | — | — | — | — | 92 | — | 75 | 64 | — | …All This Time |
“Send Your Love” (featuring Vicente Amigo) | 2003 | 30 | 44 | 53 | — | 24 | — | 43 | 37 | — | Sacred Love |
“Whenever I Say Your Name” (with Mary J. Blige) | 60 | — | 56 | — | — | — | 60 | 50 | — | ||
“Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)” | 2004 | 60 | — | — | — | 54 | — | — | 81 | — | |
“Soul Cake” (Radio Edit) | 2009 | — | — | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | If on a Winter’s Night… |
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
2010’s
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS | BEL (WA) |
FRA | GER | IRE | NLD | SWI |
US | |||
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” (London ’10 Version) | 2010 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Symphonicities |
“Deep in the Meadow (Lullaby)” | 2012 | — | 901 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond (Released as a single, and as a bonus download upon purchasing the album) |
“Practical Arrangement” | 2013 | — | 828 | 92 | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Last Ship |
“And Yet” | — | 845 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
“I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” | 2016 | — | 374 | 60 | 52 |
— | — | — | — | — | 57th & 9th |
“Don’t Make Me Wait” | 2018 | — | 882 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 44/876 |
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
As featured artist
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | AUS | FRA | GER | IRE | NLD | SWI | US | |||
“Spirits in the Material World” (Pato Banton featuring Sting) |
1996 | 36 | — | — | 68 | — | — | — | — | Ace Ventura |
“On Silent Wings” (Tina Turner featuring Sting) |
13 | — | — | 55 | — | 37 | — | — | Wildest Dreams | |
“I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying” (Toby Keith featuring Sting) |
1997 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 84 | Dream Walkin’ |
“Invisible Sun” (Sting & Aswad) [German-only release] |
1998 | — | — | — | 75 | — | — | — | — | The X-Files: The Album |
“Terre d’oru (Fields of Gold)” (I Muvrini featuring Sting) [France-only release] |
— | — | 36 | — | — | 93 | — | — | Non-album single | |
“Rise & Fall” (Craig David featuring Sting) |
2003 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 11 | — | Slicker Than Your Average |
“Lullaby to an Anxious Child” (Gregg Kofi Brown featuring Sting) |
2005 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Together as One |
“Always on Your Side” (Sheryl Crow featuring Sting) |
2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 33 | Wildflower |
“Stolen Car” (Mylène Farmer featuring Sting) |
2015 | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 55 | — | Interstellaires |
“—” denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Other appearances
Title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
Multiple tracks | 1982 | Brimstone & Treacle soundtrack |
“Adventures in Success” (co-writer) | 1983 | Will Powers’s Dancing For Mental Health |
“Money for Nothing” (backing vocals) | 1985 | Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms |
“The Promise” (backing vocals) | Arcadia’s So Red The Rose | |
“Long Long Way To Go” “Take Me Home” (backing vocals) |
Phil Collins’ No Jacket Required | |
“One Phone Call” (French policeman’s voice) | Miles Davis’ You’re Under Arrest | |
Multiple tracks | 1986 | Eberhard Schoener’s “Music From ‘Video Magic’ & ‘Flashback'” |
“I Been Down So Long” | Live For Life (limited-release charity album) | |
“Someone to Watch Over Me” | 1987 | Someone to Watch Over Me soundtrack |
“Gabriel’s Message” | A Very Special Christmas | |
“Murder by Numbers” | 1989 | Broadway the Hard Way by Frank Zappa |
“Charming Snakes”(bass) | 1990 | Charming Snakes by Andy Summers |
“Cushie Butterfield” | 1991 | Disney compilation album For Our Children |
“Come Down in Time” | Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin | |
“Muoio per te” “It’s Probably Me” “Panus Angelicus” |
1992 | Luciano Pavarotti’s Pavarotti & Friends |
Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf (narration) | Claudio Abbado and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe’s Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and other works |
|
“Sister Moon” (backing vocals) | 1994 | Vanessa Williams’ The Sweetest Days |
“Russians” (live version) | Grammy’s Greatest Moments Volume I | |
“Someone to Watch Over Me” (live version) | Grammy’s Greatest Moments Volume IV | |
“Moonlight” | 1995 | Sabrina soundtrack |
“Angel Eyes” “My One And Only Love” “It’s A Lonesome Old Town” |
Leaving Las Vegas soundtrack | |
“Mo Ghile Mear” (Our Hero) | The Chieftains’s album The Long Black Veil | |
“Sisters of Mercy” (with The Chieftains) | Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen | |
“This Was Never Meant to Be” | Gentlemen Don’t Eat Poets soundtrack | |
“It Ain’t Necessarily So” | 1997 | Joe Henderson’s Porgy & Bess |
“I Saw Three Ships” | A Very Special Christmas 3 | |
“Windmills of Your Mind” | 1999 | The Thomas Crown Affair soundtrack |
“Ain’t No Sunshine” | David Sanborn’s Inside | |
“Another Pyramid” | Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida | |
“‘Round Midnight” | Andy Summers’ Green Chimneys: The Music Of Thelonious Monk | |
“In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” | Chris Botti’s Slowing Down the World | |
“Don’t Walk Away” | 2000 | Youssou N’Dour’s Joko – From Village To Town |
“My Funny Friend and Me” | The Emperor’s New Groove soundtrack | |
“Searching for the Holy Grail” (backing vocals) | Danny Paradise’s River of the Soul | |
“She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)” | Various Artists’ A Love Affair: Music of Ivan Lins | |
“Seventh Son” | 2001 | Jools Holland’s Small World Big Band |
“Until…” | Kate and Leopold soundtrack | |
“Fragile” (live version) | America: A Tribute to Heroes | |
“Le Rai C’est Chic” | Cheb Mami’s Dellali | |
“Fill Her Up” | Earl Scruggs’ Earl Scruggs And Friends | |
“Mad About You” | George Dalaras’ The Running Roads | |
“People” | 2002 | Jimmy Cliff’s Fantastic Plastic People |
“Sail On, Sailor” | Lulu’s Together | |
“Shape of My Heart” “Ave Maria” |
2003 | Dominic Miller’s Shapes |
“You Will Be My Ain True Love” (with Alison Krauss) | Cold Mountain soundtrack | |
“Shape” (backing vocals) | Sugababes’ Angels with Dirty Faces | |
“The Wind Cries Mary” | 2004 | Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix |
“We’ll Be Together” (with Annie Lennox) | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason soundtrack | |
“La Belle Dame Sans Regrets” (with Dominic Miller) | Chris Botti’s When I Fall in Love | |
“People” | Jimmy Cliff’s Black Magic | |
“Gonna Be Some Changes Made” “Halcyon Days” |
Bruce Hornsby’s Halcyon Days | |
“A Thousand Years” (with Mariza) | Unity: The Official Athens 2004 Olympic Games Album | |
“Muoio Per Te” | Zucchero’s Zu & Co. | |
“Taking the Inside Rail” | 2005 | Racing Stripes soundtrack |
“Sister Moon” | Herbie Hancock’s Possibilities | |
“Moon Over Bourbon Street” (live version with Chris Botti) | Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now | |
“Union” | The Black Eyed Peas’ Monkey Business | |
“Love Sneakin’ Up On You” (with Joss Stone) | Les Paul & Friends’ American Made World Played | |
“Until…” | Brodsky Quartet’s Moodswings | |
“Friend or Foe” | t.A.T.u.’s Dangerous and Moving | |
“The Boulevard of Broken Dreams” | 2006 | Tony Bennett’s Duets: An American Classic |
“None of Us Are Free” (with Sheila E.) | Sam Moore’s Overnight Sensational | |
“Prologue of Dionysos” “Unfailing Welcome to the Voice” “To Be Is Strong” “The Desire of Dionysos”” “Distanciation” “The Unlikely Duet” |
2007 | Steve Nieve and Muriel Teodori: Welcome to the Voice (with Barbara Bonney, Robert Wyatt, Elvis Costello, Brodsky Quartet) |
“Sea Dreamer” | Anoushka Shankar/Karsh Kale’s Breathing Under Water | |
“What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” | 2008 | Chris Botti’s To Love Again: The Duets |
“L’amour c’est comme un jour” “Love Is New Everyday” |
2009 | Charles Aznavour’s Duos |
“Come Again” | Joshua Bell’s At Home with Friends | |
“Seven Days” (live version) “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” (live version) “Shape of My Heart” (live version) |
Chris Botti in Boston | |
“Alone with My Thoughts This Evening” | Edin Karamazov’s The Lute is a Song | |
“Higher Ground/Roxanne” (with Stevie Wonder) “People Get Ready” (with Jeff Beck) |
2009 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert album |
“Power’s Out” | 2011 | Nicole Scherzinger’s Killer Love |
“Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot” | Matthew Morrison’s self-titled album | |
“Catch Tomorrow” | 2014 | Afrojack’s Forget the World |
“Lonesome Day” | A MusiCares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (DVD) | |
“Killing You” | 2015 | Ivy Levan’s No Good |
Sting Facebook
Sting Twitter
Sting Instagram
Sting Concert Tickets
Tickets to his next concerts are now ready. Hurry and book your ticket before the prices rise. Just click here
Sting Tour Dates
To know when Sting will be performing near you click here
Sting And Peter Gabriel
Sting Interview
About InformationCradle Editorial Staff
This Article is produced by InformationCradle Editorial Staff which is a team of expert writers and editors led by Josphat Gachie and trusted by millions of readers worldwide.
We endeavor to keep our content True, Accurate, Correct, Original and Up to Date. For complain, correction or an update, please send us an email to informationcradle@gmail.com. We promise to take corrective measures to the best of our abilities.