this month's feature

THE STING

As chief of The Police, the
arrestingly handsome singer-songwriter
known as Sting has joined the force
to beautify New York City.

THE FIRST TIME British bloke Sting (Gordon Sumner) came to New York, late in 1978, it was a modest affair. He and his band, The Police (Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland), were traveling in a cramped van, kicking off their first U.S. tour with a debut at CBGB & OMFUG, the legendary, nowdefunct punk rock club in a once seedy section of the East Village.
    Thirty years later, the story is ending in the city where it began, but with a lot more fanfare. After a 14-month recordbreaking world tour, Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Sting and The Police will stage their last concert ever at Madison Square Garden (Aug. 7), featuring New Wave rock pioneers the B-52’s. As a thank-you to the city in which their ascent began, this final performance will benefit MillionTreesNYC— an initiative to plant 1 million trees across the five boroughs by 2017—as well as New York Public Television stations Thirteen/WNET (Ch. 13) and WLIW21 (Ch. 21). The group has agreed to give $1 million to help keep New York City green, and their generosity is not surprising, since Sting, the lead vocalist and principal songwriter, is committed to the environment.
    “The Police are one of the biggest names in rock ’n’ roll, and we’re incredibly honored that they have chosen New York City as the stage for their final farewell,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a press conference in May. “There are an awful lot of people who go through life earning money ... and not giving anything away. The Police are role models for all of us.”
     Born in the U.K. on Oct. 2, 1951, in the ship building town of Wallsend, Newcastle, singer and bass guitar player Sting was an English teacher before joining forces in 1977 with drummer Copeland and guitarist Summers in London. Playing a unique style of reggaeflavored New Wave rock, the band became a regular presence on the charts with hits including “Roxanne,” “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” and “Every Breath You Take.” For the next seven years, they were among rock’s most successful and original bands, although off stage, the relationships between the three band members grew strained.
     “We didn’t break up, we just stopped playing and did other things,” recalls Sting. “I was not happy at all. I really had to look inside myself to see ‘Where am I happy?’ It’s got nothing to do with money and fame. So I spent 25 years trying to find that, and I think I did.”
     As a solo performer, Sting explored everything from jazz and folk to New Age, world and 16thcentury lute music by English composer John Dowland— and it’s paid off. Last year, The Sunday Times of London listed him as Britain’s 388th wealthiest person, and the current Police reunion tour is expected to gross more than $200 million. Sting has used his fortune to collect several homes scattered around England, Tuscany, Malibu and New York City, where he recently paid $26.5 million for a 5,500-square-foot, duplex condominium, with five bedrooms and a terrace, on the 16th and 17th floors of a celebrity-filled building on Central Park West. While in New York, he’s been spotted having sushi at Gari on the Upper West Side, practicing yoga at the Jivamukti Yoga School in Union Square and sampling the nightlife at The Box on the Lower East Side and Waverly Inn in the West Village. In addition, last year he and another musical legend, David Bowie, cofinanced Forty Deuce, a proposed swanky burlesque nightclub in NoLIta, but neighborhood opposition has stalled the project indefinitely.
    The musician devotes a great deal of time and effort to social causes, including Amnesty International and the non profit Rainforest Foundation, which he and his wife of 16 years, actress and film producer Trudie Styler, founded in 1989 to preserve the Brazilian rain forest and its indigenous Amazonian tribespeople. The Foundation’s biannual Carnegie Hall concerts have raised more than $25 million for the cause. “We’re fighting a battle, and it’s never over,” says Sting, who maintains the charity’s longevity is its most important measure of success. “It’s been 20 years of struggle, but we’re still here.” The Police are also exhibiting strength by burying old animosities. “We still argue, but we’re slightly more mature as individuals, so we navigate around each other better,” notes Sting. “I think that this tour has given the band closure.” What’s next for the rocker with a conscience? In November, he and Elvis Costello will perform a rock-opera fusion in Paris, and in December, he’s scheduled for a concert in Dubai. And even though their touring days will be over, Sting says it’s possible The Police will record again. “I’m sure the other two would love for us to record some new material. It’s really just a question of whether I feel inspired.”

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