Singer, songwriter, and actor. Born Gordon Matthew Sumner on October 2, 1951, in Wallsend, England. Sting first rose to fame as part of the legendary rock group The Police in the 1970s and 1980s before becoming a successful solo artist. He earned his unusual nickname from the black and yellow sweater he used to wear during his early days as a musician.
Sting played with several groups before forming The Police with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Henri Padovani in 1977. Padovani was later replaced by guitarist Andy Summers. The new trio released the single "Roxanne" in the spring of 1978, which went nowhere at first. Later that year, Sting, Copeland, and Summers traveled around the United States in a van playing small clubs, such as CBGB's, a punk rock haven in New York City. Interest in their first album Outlandos d'Amour (1978) began to grow and it eventually made on to first the British and then the American charts. A re-released "Roxanne" as well as "So Lonely" and "Can't Stand Losing You" became popular singles. Sting wrote most of the songs on the album, as he would for most of the group's recordings. Also during this time, he made his first film appearance in musical drama Quadrophenia (1978).
While often identified as part of the punk and new wave musical scenes, The Police had a sound that was hard to pin down, filled with many influences from jazz to progressive rock. With its ...
