He was the frontman , principal songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from until their breakup in He launched a solo career in and has included elements of rock, jazz , reggae , classical, new-age , and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police.
As a child, he was inspired by the Queen Mother waving at him from a Rolls-Royce to divert from the shipyard prospect towards a more glamorous life. After working as a bus conductor, building labourer, and tax officer, he attended the Northern Counties College of Education now Northumbria University from to and qualified as a teacher. Sting performed jazz in the evenings, on weekends, and during breaks from college and teaching, playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band and Last Exit.
Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee or according to Sting himself, "they thought I looked like a wasp " , which prompted the name "Sting". You could shout 'Gordon' in the street and I would just move out of your way". In January , Sting joined Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani soon replaced by Andy Summers to form the Police, becoming the band's lead singer, bass player, and primary songwriter. Their final album, Synchronicity , was nominated for five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year in Even though logic would say, "Are you out of your mind?
You're in the biggest band in the world β just bite the bullet and make some money. According to Sting, appearing in the documentary Last Play at Shea , he decided to leave the Police while onstage during a concert of 18 August at Shea Stadium in New York City because he felt that playing that venue was " [Mount] Everest ".
In , however, the band did reform temporarily for the purpose of undertaking a reunion tour. In , the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He performed solo versions of " Roxanne " and " Message in a Bottle ".
