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STING

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Soundtracks

The movies have also spotlighted his composing skills. In 1999, Sting was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song "You Were Meant For Me" which was included in soundtrack of The Object Of My Affection. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for the theme song from the film The Mighty in the original song category. That same year, he also did a remake of "The Windmills Of Your Mind" for The Thomas Crown Affair. In 2000, the Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan movie, Kate and Leopold featured his Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated ballad for Best Song, “Until…” an elegant successor to his Golden Globe-nominated and Oscar-nominated “My Funny Friend and Me”, for Best Original Song, from the Disney animation, The Emperor's New Groove.

Stung by the Acting Bug

Although Sting continues to invest most of his energy into music, a complete communicator and artist, Sting has never prevented himself from expressing his artistry as explores both sound and image. Over the years Sting has also acted on different occasions and has appeared in several movies. Following the 1977 release of the Police's inaugural recording Fall Out, Sting was approached by the producers of the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only to costar as the megalomaniac villain. He refused, choosing instead to make his scene-stealing film bow in the more characteristic role of a teen punk in Quadrophrenia (1979). Among the films he has appeared on are Radio On (1980), Artemis '81 (1980), Brimstone And Treacle (1982), Dune (1984), Plenty (1985), and The Bride (1985), Bring On The Night (1985), Stormy Monday (1988), Julia Julia (1988), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1999). He has also appeared in an episode of Ally McBeal in 2001, joining Barry White, Al Green and Barry Manilow as musical guests who have not only graced the show, but also been involved in an episode's story line where Sting played himself as well as performed the Police's "Every Breath You Take”. More than just movie and television appearances, Sting’s surprise appearance in 2002 in the London's smash The Play What I Wrote, directed by Kenneth Brannagh also reminds audiences of the multi-Grammy award winner’s history of theatrical risk-taking, that also includes his performance in the Broadway stage revival of Brecht/Weill's The Threepenny Opera.

Collaborations

James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Gil Evans, Branford Marsalis as well as Miles Davis arranger Gil Evans and Algerian singer Cheb Mami are just few of the stellar musicians Sting has collaborated with in his solo albums. Aside from those, though, Sting has also contributed to numerous other musicians’ albums. He could be found on the 1995 release of the album Tower Of Song: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen with the track, "Sisters Of Mercy" performed with The Chieftains. Two years later, Sting was featured on the James Taylor's LP, Hourglass on the track "Jump Up Behind Me." In 1998, Sting was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for his experimentation with cross-platforming his music in "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" with Toby Keith. He also sang alongside Sheryl Crow on the 1998 release by Waylon Jennings. The following year, Sting lent his vocals on the compilation, Elton John And Tim Rice's Aida, with "Another Pyramid". In 2000, after a 6 year wait, Sting returned to the Top 10 with "Desert Rose”, the result of a collaboration with Cheb Mami. 2001 saw him take home another Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (his 4^th in that category) for "She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rosa)" from A Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins complilation. The following year, he duets with Lulu on a song entitled “Sail on Sailor” on her new album, Together where duets with some other guest musicians such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker and Russell Watson, to name a few, are also included. Sting also performs with Jools Holland for the song, Seventh Son on Holland's album, Small World Big Band, that features duets with Eric Clapton, Mark Knopflef, and George Harrison, among others. Sting could also be heard on Craig David's 2002 LP, Slicker Than Your Average, on the track "Rise & Fall" which samples Sting's "Shape Of My Heart." Continuing to work with other musicians belonging to genres different from the one he’s always been categorized under, Sting’s latest LP release, Sacred Love, includes a gospel-tinged collaboration with Mary J. Blige on the track "Whenever I Say Your Name."

Sting the Humanitarian

Often noted for his work in the field of human rights, Sting views his activism as part and parcel to being a citizen of the planet. Sting started to become heavily involved with Amnesty International back in 1987, about the time when he started doing major benefit concerts like Live Aid – where he performed with Phil Collins – and Band Aid, both which helped aid the famine in Ethiopia.  Presently, he remains active in causes as various as ecology (thus putting up the Rainforest Foundation with wife Trudie Styler), Amnesty International, and human rights as a whole. For him, the personal and political fuse, just as art and action become inextricable, and his generosity has not gone unnoticed. While touring in Chile last January 2001, Sting received a Gabriela Mistral medal for his human rights support against former leader Augusto Pinochet, (including the gentle protest song, They Dance Alone, and his benefit concerts in Chile for political dissidents over the years). Later on, on May 2001 Sting received the Kahlil Gibran Spirit of Humanity Award from the Arab-American Institute Foundation in Washington, D.C. for his "commitment to indigenous people and the environment, as well as his efforts to promote cross-cultural understanding," particularly through his duet with Algerian superstar Cheb Mami, Brand New Day’s “Desert Rose”. Sting is also one of several celebrities honored with a special stamp when the South Pacific island nation of Palau recently issued a 33 cent Sting stamp in honor of his environmental work. The Stamp features Sting with Brazilian Indian Chief Ranoi (also a co-founder of the Rainforest Foundation). Sting's continued support for human rights organizations continues to mirror his art in its universal outreach. On December of this year, Sting will be honored with the humanitarian award, MusiCares Person of the Year, by the Recording Academy in February.

More Awards…

In recognition of the lasting impact of the music that Sting has both written and performed, he has received the 2002 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music and the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement which honors British songwriters. He has also been inducted into the National Songwriters Hall of Fame alongside Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Carole King, Leiber and Stoller and Bruce Springsteen.

From the Police’s Outlandos D’Amour, Reggatta De Blanc, Zenyatta Mondatta, Ghost in the Machine, Synchronicity and the trio's live work and best-of compilations, and his solo works, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, Bring on the Night, ...Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages, Ten Summoner’s Tales, Mercury Falling, Brand New Day, ...All this Time and Sacred Love, Sting has undoubtedly evolved into one of the most distinctive and highly respected performers of the 20th century. Through the years, he has managed to stay fresh by changing what surrounds him as he continues to forge a wholly original synthesis from an entire world of musical strains and styles. Classical, country, Celtic and folk, jazz, R&B, reggae and rock – all are part of his musical language, a language he crafts like a poet.

Singer and songwriter, world citizen and activist, globetrotting adventurer and father of six, Sting continues to exceed expectations as the music he makes and the message he delivers compel him forward to what he, along with the rest of the world, hope would be a bright future.

© Valerie V. Mayuga, 2005

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