Sting (musician)

Sting CBE
Sting performing at The Queen's Birthday Party in 2018
Born	Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (1951-10-02) 2 October 1951 (age 72) Wallsend, England
Alma mater	Northern Counties College of Education
Occupations	Musician singer songwriter actor activist
Years active	1969–present
Spouses	Frances Tomelty ​ ​ (m. 1976; div. 1984)​ Trudie Styler ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	6; including Joe, Mickey and Eliot
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Rock pop new wave post-punk ska reggae jazz world soft rock[1][2][3]
Instruments	Vocals bass guitar guitar double bass keyboards
Labels	A&M Deutsche Grammophon Universal Cherrytree Interscope Polydor
Formerly of	The Police
Website	sting.com
Musical artist
Signature

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician, activist and actor. He was the frontman, songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.^[4]

As a solo musician and a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards: he won Song of the Year for "Every Breath You Take", three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, he received a BMI Award for "Every Breath You Take" becoming the most-played song in radio history.^[5] In 2002, Sting 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.^[6] In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow.

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.^[7] In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters.^[8] He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock,^[9] and 80th of Q's 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century.^[10] He has collaborated with other musicians on songs such as "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 "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami. In 2018, he released the album 44/876, a collaboration with Jamaican musician Shaggy, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2019.^[11]