  Sting was born as Gordon Matthew
Sumner on October 2, 1951 in England. Sting
first became a music icon during his years as
lead singer of The Police. After the band broke
up in 1984, Sting began an equally successful
solo career blending a mix of rock, jazz, and
pop music.
Sting won 2 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year (songwriter)
("Every Breath You Take") and Best Rock Instrumental
Performance ("Brimstone &
Treacle" from the soundtrack for Brimstone
& Treacle).
 # 13
Singles Artist of the Year
 Sting's debut solo LP, The
Dream Of The Blue Turtles, was released. With
his debut, it was apparent that Sting had
left most alternative influences in the
background and focused more on his
jazz-influences. The title of the LP came
from a dream Sting had about blue turtles
(which represented chaos) destroying his
garden. The LP yielded Sting's first solo Top
3 hit: "If
You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (debuting in
June) followed by the hits, "Fortress
Around Your Heart" "Love Is The
Seventh Wave," and "Russians." Sting may have
lost some of his Police following, but he
began gaining new audiences through music
that was still accessible to pop audiences,
and had enough lyrical content to keep
critics pleased.
The
Dream Of The Blue Turtles was certified
platinum.
 # 83
Singles Artist of the Year
 The
Dream Of The Blue Turtles was certified 2x
platinum.
Sting hit the Top 40 with "Russians."
Sting was nominated for 3 Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male (The
Dream Of The Blue Turtles) and Song of the Year (songwriter) (Dire Straits' "Money For
Nothing").
Sting soon toured after
releasing his solo LP and released a live LP
and movie of the tour: Bring
On The Night. The CD includes live
performances from Sting's '85 tour in Europe.
The
Dream Of The Blue Turtles was certified 3x
platinum.
The video for "If You Love
Somebody Set Them Free" was nominated
for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Male Video and Best Overall Performance.
 # 80
Singles Artist of the Year
 Sting released, Nothing
Like The Sun. Sting returned to the
Top 10 with the tracks "We'll Be
Together" and "Be Still My Beating
Heart." The LP was dedicated to Sting's
deceased mother and later ranked at # 90 on Rolling
Stone magazine's "100 Greatest
Albums of The 80s" survey.
Sting's lyrics became even more
issue-oriented as did his personal politics.
Sting appeared at many benefit concerts over
the years including Live Aid, Amnesty
International Tours and Freedomfest for
causes ranging from Nelson Mandela to the
rainforests. Although the LP was not has
jazz-influenced as his debut, it showed
Sting's ability to bring forth new influences
and different styles to achieve his sound.
Sting won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video,
Long Form (Bring
On The Night).
Nothing
Like The Sun was certified platinum.
 # 69
Singles Artist of the Year
 Sting released Nada
Como El Sol - a collection of
songs from Nothing
Like The Sun sung in Spanish or
Portuguese.
Sting won a Grammy
Award for Best Pop Male Vocal Performance (Bring
On The Night).
The video for
"We'll Be Together" won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Cinematography (Bill Pope) and was
nominated for Best Choreography.
Sting was nominated for 3 Grammy
Awards for Album of the Year (Nothing
Like The Sun), Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male,
and Song of the Year (songwriter) ("Be
Still My Beating Heart").
 # 82
Singles Artist of the Year
 Sting's release, The
Soul Cages, showed a more personal side of
the man singing introspectively about his
family and his deceased father. Rolling
Stone called the LP, "...Sting's
most ambitious record yet... (his) poetic
language makes for a sort of sensory theater,
darkly lit, almost Gothic."
Sting hit the Top 40 with "All This Time."
Sting hit the Top 10 with "All This Time."
The
Soul Cages was certified platinum.
Nothing
Like The Sun was certified 2x platinum.
Sting won a Grammy
Award for Best Rock Song (songwriter)
("Soul Cages").
Sting married Trudi Styler.
 # 18
Singles Artist of the Year
Sting was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television
or Other Visual Media (songwriter)
("It's Probably Me" with Michael
Kamen and Eric
Clapton).
 Sting hit the Top 40 with "If I Ever Lose My Faith
In You."
Sting released Ten
Summoner's Tales which Entertainment
Weekly called "...11 terse,
vividly imagined gems."
Sting hit the Top 10 with "If I Ever Lose My Faith
In You."
Ten
Summoner's Tales was certified
platinum.
Sting hit the Top 40 with "Fields Of Gold."
Sting released the EP/single "Demolition
Man" with the title track remixed for a
film of the same name along with 5 live
tracks.
 The video for "If I Ever Lose My Faith
In You"
was nominated for 3 MTV Video Music
Awards including Best Male Video, Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography.
Sting performed at a benefit
concert in Boston for Walden Woods.
Ten
Summoner's Tales was certified 2x
platinum.
Sting hit the Top 40 with "Nothing 'Bout Me."
Sting hit the Top 40 with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams with "All For Love" from the film
soundtrack of The
Three Musketeers.
Sting hit the Top 10 with "All For Love."
 # 56
Singles Artist of the Year
 Sting hit #1 with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams for 5 weeks with
"All For Love"
Sting topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles chart for 3 weeks and the Hot 100
Singles Sales chart for a weekwith "All For Love"
The single for "All For Love" was certified
platinum.
Sting won 2 Grammy
Awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male
("If I Ever Lose My Faith
In You"
and Best Music Video, Long Form (Ten
Summoner's Tales) and was nominated for
Album of the Year (for Ten
Summoner's Tales), Record of the Year
and Song of the Year (songwriter) ("If I Ever Lose My Faith
In You"),
and Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo
("Demolition Man").
Ten
Summoner's Tales was certified 3x
platinum.
 Sting released Fields
Of Gold - The Best Of Sting. Q magazine
said of the hits collection:
"...excellent... Sting shows no fear of
experimentation... from Andean pipes, through
flamenco guitar and... funk to the... reggae
where it all began..."
Sting hit the Top 40 with "When We Dance."
Sting was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with
Vocals
("All For Love" with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams).
Fields
Of Gold - The Best Of Sting was certified
platinum.
 Sting could be found on Tower
Of Song: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen with the track,
"Sisters Of Mercy" performed with The Chieftains.
Sting won a lawsuit against his
former accountant who was accused of stealing
over $9 million from the singer.
 # 88
Singles Artist of the Year
Sting was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male
("When We Dance").
 Mercury
Falling was released. Rolling
Stone said of the LP, "...Sting
manages to stay true to his pensive nature
while injecting healthy doses of levity into
the mix."
Fields
Of Gold - The Best Of Sting was certified 2x
platinum.
Mercury
Falling was certified gold.
Sting hit the Top 40 with "You Still Touch Me."
Mercury
Falling was certified platinum.
Sting hit the Top 40 with "I'm So Happy I Can't
Stop Crying."
 Over the years Sting has also
acted on different occasions and has appeared
in several movies, including Quadrophenia (1979), Brimstone
And Treacle (1982), Dune (1984), Plenty (1985), and The
Bride (1985).
Sting's music can also be found
on the compilations: The
Secret Policemen's Other Ball (1982), Two
Rooms with "Come Down In
Time" (1991), A
Very Special Christmas with "Gabriel's
Message" (1991), For
Our Children with "Cushie
Butterfield" (1991), A
Very Special Christmas 3 with "I Saw Three
Ships" (1997), and Twentieth
Century Blues: Songs Of Noel Coward with
"I'll Follow My Secret Heart"
(1998) and the soundtracks: Brimstone
& Treacle with "I Burn For You"
(1982), The
Three Musketeers with "All For Love" (1993), Sabrina with
"Moonlight" (1995), Leaving
Las Vegas with "My One And Only
Love" (1995), and The
Object Of My Affection with "You Were
Meant For Me" (1998).
Sting received 3 Grammy
Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Male
("Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot),"
Best Pop Vocal Collaboration ("The Wind
Cries Mary" with John McLaughlin,
Dominic Miller & Vinnie
Colaiuta from In
From The Storm - The Music Of Jimi Hendrix), and Best Pop Album (Mercury
Falling).
Sting appeared
at a benefit concert in London to raise money
for the Caribbean island of Montserrat, which
was devastated by volcanic eruptions. Other
artists performing included: Mark
Knopfler, Eric
Clapton, Elton
John, and Paul
McCartney.
 The
Very Best Of Sting & The Police was released.
Sting's experimentation with
cross-platforming his music paid off on the Billboard
charts. For the week ending December
13th, Sting could be found in the Hot Country
Singles and Tracks Chart Top 10 with "I'm So Happy I Can't
Stop Crying." The single was shown as Toby
Keith with Sting. The same week,
Sting and The Police could be found on the
Hot R&B Airplay Chart Top 40 with
"Roxanne '97" (which topped the
Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart for 3
weeks). The track has also hit big on the Rap
Chart.
Sting could also be found on James Taylor's LP, Hourglass on a track called
"Jump Up Behind Me."
 Sting was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country
Collaboration with Vocals ("I'm So Happy I Can't
Stop Crying" (with Toby Keith)).
Ranked # 63
on
VH1: Greatest
Artists of Rock & Roll (and
# 36 on Rock On The Net's
Poll)
Sting could be found on the The
X-Files - The Movie soundtrack with a
remake of his song "Invisible Sun"
with Aswad.
Sting could be found singing
with Sheryl
Crow on the latest release by Waylon
Jennings.
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