• Oct. 2, 1951
• Sting was a schoolteacher for three years. During this time, he played in bands nights and weekends.
• His real name is Gordon Sumner. Concurring anecdotes have it that he got his stage name from a yellow-and-black-striped sweater he wore while playing jazz gigs during his early days in Cramlington, England, which made him look like a bumble bee. One bandleader started calling him "Sting" and it stuck.
• Some of the movies he acted in include Quadrophenia, Dune, The Bride, Plenty, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, and Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels. He was also in The Great Rock And Roll Swindle as a member of the Fabulous Blowwaves, the band that nearly rapes Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook. The scene was cut but later restored for the 2000 documentary The Filth and the Fury. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  John - Levittown, NY
• He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Sting has six children: two with his first wife, Frances Tomelty, four with his next wife, Trudie Styler.
• In high school, he was a champion sprinter.
• Sting recorded a live album in Italy on September 11, 2001. Despite the turmoil going on in America that day, he completed the show and eventually released the album.
• His first acting experience was before he joined The Police. He was in a bra commercial for a few seconds, playing pinball. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Dan - West Hartford, CT
• He did the soundtrack for Brimstone And Treacle featuring the song "Spread A Little Happiness." He also played the leading Role in this Movie. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Sabrina - Vienna, Austria
• During his three years as a school teacher, several girls had crushes on Sting. The Police song "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is about a teacher who is attracted to one of his students, but Sting has denied that this came from any personal experience.
• Sting played Mack the Knife on Broadway in Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera. The play's director, John Dexter, refused to call the singer by his name, instead dubbing him "Tommy Steele" after a '50s rock-and-roller who became an actor. Sting admired the director because his sarcasm reminded him of his dad.
• Sting went to St. Cuthbert's school in Newcastle, where Pet Shop Boys singer Neil Tennant was a fellow pupil.
• He's fascinated with death, which he calls "the most interesting subject in any art form."
• Sting discovered the guitar when he was 8 or 9. His next-door neighbor emigrated to Canada and left his 5-string, rusty guitar with him. He saved up for the other string.
• Sting learned songs by slowing records down and speeding them up too. "If you play a 45 at 78, you can really hear what the bass player's doing," he told Mojo magazine. "And if I wanted to break down a guitar solo, I'll slow it down to 33, or even 16. I realized that you can play anything if you slow it down. Eventually you learn to speed it up."
• During an appearance on Later... with Jools Holland, Sting revealed that his and Sam Fender's mothers were both nurses at the same local hospital.
• Sting has undoubtedly signed countless autographs over his illustrious career, but has he ever been the one seeking an autograph? "I only have one autograph," he confessed. "I have Frank Sinatra's autograph. I got that maybe 25 years ago, and he wrote, 'To the new Blue Eyes.'"
  
  Just one problem: Sting has green eyes.

Comments: 12

• Kayla from Winnipeg, MbI LOVE The Police and I LOVE Sting's solo stuff as well! "Fields of Gold", "Russians", "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You", "Fragile", "When We Dance", "After The Rain Has Fallen", "Desert Rose", "Brand New Day", "Englishman in New York", "Why Should I Cry For You", "All This Time", are just some of my favourites by him! Amazing writer and his songs.. ahh! Great lyrics and I LOVE the music in his songs!
• Destiny from Angleton, TxAwsome i didn't no a lot of these facts.
• Aaron from Wichita, KsI think "Fields of Gold" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. If you enjoy this song as much as I do I would recommend listening to the version sung by the late Eva Cassidy -- it is incredible. I really like "If I ever lose my faith in you" as well.
• Waqas from Lahore, Pakistani have listen the song desert rose and i like it very much. first time i listen it on the radio station of voa. this is one of my favourite songs.
• Kelli from Cedar Rapids, IaI read somewhere that Sting takes a hit of Ecstacy before every live performance, does anyone know if that's true?
• Micah from Huntington Beach, Casting is great
  he was better when he was with the police but w/e
  he is still good though
  
• Cha Cha Cha from Ogg, HungaryI've heard that Sting has been knighted, but I don't know exactly where.
• Asasyn from Poland, PolandAlso, on Sept 11 Sting played only "Fragile", you should know how sad this song is. Rest of album he recorded in other time
• Jake from Burke, Vadoes sting know of pro wrestler steve borden? for those who are keeping track, steve borden is none other than pro wrestling's sting.
• Geri from Nova Scotia, CanadaSting also wrote his memoirs of his early years. Check it out, he not only is a good song writer, he's a pretty good author as well, looking forward to the sequel. IT is called Broken Music
• Geri from Nova Scotia, CanadaProbably why he dedicated the album to the 9/11 tradgedy...
• Lea from River Vale, NjYour artistfact regarding the album recorded on Sept 11 makes Sting sound like a cruel person. If you actually listen to the album, it is so sad - even when some of the songs were never intentionally meant to be played in that style. Music is a medium in which people convey emotions and the album that was produced on this day will always remind us of the 9/11 attacks. In addition, all of the proceeds went to charity - Sting did not make money off this album.

More Songfacts:

The CaveMumford & Sons

"The Cave" by Mumford & Sons is based on the philosophy of Plato and his work called "Allegory of the Cave."

MotherDanzig

"Mother" by Danzig is about censorship, specifically the Parents Music Resource Center, which pushed record labels to put warning stickers on albums with explicit lyrics.

TendernessGeneral Public

"Tenderness" by General Public was partly inspired by the outbreak of AIDS, which at the time was thought to be contagious.

Don't Go Back To RockvilleR.E.M.

The R.E.M. song "Don't Go Back To Rockville" is about Mike Mills' girlfriend at the University of Georgia, who had to go back to Rockville, Maryland, for the summer.

(Don't Fear) The ReaperBlue Öyster Cult

Buck Dharma of Blue Oyster Cult wrote "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" after he was diagnosed with a heart condition and started thinking about his own mortality.

Shot In The DarkOzzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne's "Shot In The Dark" is titled after a Pink Panther movie.

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