The musician Gordon Sumner is best known as Sting - this is his nickname, which he chose to perform on stage. The vocalist and multi-instrumentalist has achieved worldwide recognition as the frontman of the British band The Police. After its collapse, the musician began a solo career. In addition, behind him there are several serious roles in the big movie.
early years
Gordon Sumner was born on October 2, 1951 in Walsende - an important industrial center of Great Britain. Over the years of hard work, his father was able to afford to buy a store. Mother was a hairdresser and a nurse. The family raised Gordon in Catholic traditions. He even served as a servant in a local temple for some time. However, in his youth, the musician moved away from Christian traditions - his lifestyle had little to do with the church.
After graduating from school, the young man entered a teacher training college. He did not have a scholarship, so the young man had to work in various places. He was a bus conductor and a small employee of a state institution. After graduating, Gordon Sumner began teaching at school. Such a measured life lasted for only two years.
First performances
Gordon Sumner became interested in music during his college years. He did not have a favorite instrument - he played the piano and the guitar with equal pleasure. The future Sting did not abandon music even while he was teaching at school. The famous artist even recalled that he often rehearsed in the auditorium during breaks, when he had the opportunity to leave the office.
His first participation in local groups dates back to the same period. These were short-lived groups playing in pubs and other entertainment venues. In them, Sumner gained experience and hone his skill. From the very beginning of his career, he declared himself as a leader. In order to become him, the musician only has to create his own group.
The Police Appearance
In the second half of the 70s, the world rock scene was going through stagnation. Recognized leaders ran out of steam, and new collectives still existed in the underground. Against this background, the trio of The Police appeared, in which Gordon Sumner became the vocalist. As a singer, he established himself in numerous jazz and rock bands in the early years of his career.
The Police originated after the fateful meeting of Gordon and drummer Stuart Copland. They immediately agreed on common musical tastes. The entrepreneurial spirit of youth told them that it was time to think about creating their own band (before that they played as guest performers). It remains only to find a guitarist. They became their good friend Henry Podovani. Sumner Gordon himself became a bassist and part-time vocalist.
Musical roots of the collective
The trio's first recorded song was Fall Out. She immediately became popular in English clubs, where local youth reacted vividly to any interesting novelty.
In the late 70s in the UK experienced the flourishing of punk rock. This style originated in a deep underground, but by the time The Police became a popular and sought-after genre. The style icon was considered the group Sex Pistols. Her work from the very beginning had a significant impact on the music that Gordon Matthew Sumner wrote.
Punk rock turned out to be the most successful choice that young and ambitious guys could make. By then, playing music in the spirit of Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Pink Floyd or any other cult group was too late. To become famous in this niche was impossible. But punk rock was on the crest of a wave. However, even then Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner added other genres to his works, for example, reggae or a new wave.
Group success
A few months after the start of active work, Padovani decided to leave the project. In his place was Andy Summers. In this composition, the trio recorded their debut album Outlandos d'Amour. In the yard was 1978. Several songs from this disc immediately became international hits. The nationwide fame of new and long-awaited rock stars fell on young guys.
In subsequent years, the team recorded four more studio albums. The main composer in the group was Sting (it was then that he took the habit of using his stage name). With each new record, his music moved farther and farther away from the original punk rock. In the early 80s, The Police released softer sound albums, which can be attributed to the genre of a new war (or in a new way of new wave). Each release was successful, the group went on world tours from year to year, possessing one of the most recognizable and sought-after signs.
The Police's latest album, Synchronicity, appeared on store shelves in 1983. Then the group went on a tour, after which they suddenly stopped working. And although over the next few decades, the eminent team periodically gathered again to give several concerts, the creative paths of the three musicians finally parted.
Solo albums
The history of rock music knows many examples when a well-known group disintegrated, and its members took up solo performances. Sumner Gordon was no exception. Musical works, written by him when he was the frontman of The Police, were performed by the vocalist in the 80s and 90s. However, a solo career could not be complete without her own albums.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Sting released his first album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, relatively quickly after the collapse of the previous collective. The album did not appear on sale under the artist’s real name, but with his pseudonym.
Of the songs recorded in 1985, the single single Russians stands out. Sting wrote this composition, devoting it to the Russian people, fear of nuclear war and tension in the world. Indeed, in the mid-80s, the Cold War peaked. Songs about the threat of nuclear weapons were written by many rock bands (like Iron Maiden). So Sumner’s creative impulse in this direction is not surprising.
Nickname story
From then until today, Sting regularly releases new albums and continues to perform at concerts. It is difficult to say what his name is associated with more today - with The Police or with a solo career. One way or another, but both of these creative paths have been successful.
Sting's nickname appeared back in the 70s when he played in one of his first little-known bands, Phoenix Jazzmen. There was a tradition in the collective, according to which each of its participants had to get a stage name. Sumner was named Sting because of his black and yellow striped sweater (he looked like a bee). Sting translates from English as "sting". From that moment, Gordon Sumner began to wear this pseudonym. A photo with a musician is often signed with both a real name and a fictitious one.
Career in cinema
Sting, like many other creative personalities, never stopped at one form of art. The popularity of The Police allowed him to make a good career in cinema. Sumner has starred in over ten films. To many of them he wrote soundtracks, thus combining two of his favorite things.
Sting's most famous roles on the larger screen include his appearance in Lynch's Dune.
This picture appeared in cinemas in 1984. The film was shot based on the eponymous cult science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The picture became a significant event. In it, viewers could see for the first time the most modern at that time special effects. Sting played one of the antagonists, the Na-Baron of the Harkonnen family.