ACTOR · BORN 1951
Sting
- Born
- 2 October 1951, Wallsend, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
- Known for
- The Simpsons (1989), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Bee Movie (2007), Dune (1984)
72 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
All facts (72)
- #001
Sting reportedly earns an average of $2,000 a day in royalties from "Every Breath You Take," a song that is now 20 years old. The song is officially the most-requested radio song of all time.
- #002
Sting wrote his most popular song, "Every Breath You Take," after waking from a dream at midnight.
- #003
The Police's album "Synchronicity" was the album that finally knocked Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the best-selling album of all time, from the number one spot it had held throughout 1983.
- #004
Sting's favorite music is actually jazz.
- #005
Sting is a former bus driver and tax officer.
- #006
Gordon Solomon, trombonist of the Newcastle Big Band from Sting's hometown, gave him the nickname "Sting." The black-and-gold rugby shirts reminded Solomon of a wasp.
- #007
Sting was a certified primary school teacher in England. He also taught English at St Paul's First School, a middle school in Cramlington near Newcastle.
- #008
The Police recorded "Every Breath You Take" at Ian Fleming's house in Jamaica, where the author lived briefly in the 1980s.
- #009
In 1984, Sting was a member of Band Aid, which brought together the biggest music stars of the United Kingdom and Ireland to raise money to relieve the famine in Ethiopia.
- #010
The Police was named the 70th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of All Time by Rolling Stone.
- #011
Sting is a fan and friend of the English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel. Both reached their commercial peak in the 1980s and became known for their support of Amnesty International. They also toured the United States and Canada together in 2016.
- #012
According to VH-1, Sting's song "Roxanne" is one of the best 50 bar/jukebox songs of all time.
- #013
Sting's 1987 album "Nothing Like the Sun" is dedicated to his mother, Audrey.
- #014
The comic-book character John Constantine ("Hellblazer"), who ultimately appeared in Keanu Reeves's film Constantine (2005), was designed to look like Sting and was in fact created solely to add a Sting-like character to the Swamp Thing comic. One issue of Swamp Thing features a boat named "USS Gordon Sumner."
- #015
Sting has homes in London (England), Lake Wilshire, Malibu (California) and Figline Valdarno (Tuscany, Italy).
- #016
On 21 November 2003, Sting performed at the BBC's annual Children in Need charity event.
- #017
Two songs he sang with The Police also share their names with films starring Sandra Bullock: Demolition Man (1993) and Murder by Numbers (2002).
- #018
Sting owns a Malibu house that previously belonged to the actor Larry Hagman.
- #019
Early in their careers, Sting and the other members of The Police dyed their hair blond, making them look more like the punk rockers in a bubblegum commercial.
- #020
The Police ended their final tour in early 1984 and reunited in 1986 to play only a few benefit gigs. Their most recent performance to date was at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction on 10 March 2003. They have never officially announced a breakup.
- #021
His father, Ernie, was a milkman, and Sting helped him on his rounds.
- #022
Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, founded the Rainforest Foundation in 1988.
- #023
He has six children: two with his first wife, Frances Tomelty, and four with Trudie Styler. As of 2019, Sting has seven grandchildren.
- #024
The 2009 Sunday Times List estimated his net worth at 295 million dollars.
- #025
In February 2007, he reunited with his former bandmates in The Police and embarked on a world tour.
- #026
Together with Trudie Styler, he introduced Madonna to her second husband, Guy Ritchie.
- #027
Sting says that seeing Jimi Hendrix at Newcastle City Hall made him want to become a rock star.
- #028
One of his children suffers from dyspraxia, a developmental disorder that affects movement and coordination in childhood.
- #029
He was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to music.
- #030
He was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #031
Sting has won many Brit (British Phonographic Industry) Awards both solo and with The Police. The group won the British Phonographic Industry Award for Outstanding Contribution in 1985. The album "Nothing Like The Sun" won the British Phonographic Industry Award for British Album in 1988. Following the success of "Ten Summoner's Tales", he won the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist in 1994. In 2002 he won the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution. Only Paul McCartney, John Lennon and Freddie Mercury have won the award both as a group member and individually.
- #032
With The Police, he had five number ones, including "Walking on the Moon" (1979), "Don't Stand so Close to Me" (1980) and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (1981).
- #033
Giacomo, the winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby, was named after Sting and Trudie's son of the same name. The horse's owner, Jerry Moss, is a close friend of Sting and signed him to A&M Records.
- #034
Sting lived with Trudie Styler for about 10 years before marrying her.
- #035
He filmed the birth of his son Jake Sumner and included it in his film Bring on the Night (1985).
- #036
Sting appeared in The Threepenny Opera in Washington, DC, in the 1980s.
- #037
He attended the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, but did not graduate.
- #038
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.
- #039
He is a big fan of American singer-songwriter Paul Simon and toured the world with him between 2014 and 2015.
- #040
He left Newcastle in 1976, and within three years his band The Police had a major hit with "Roxanne," followed by many other hits, five of which reached number one. Though it was a successful period for him, it was also his unhappiest, as his marriage fell apart.
- #041
His song "Roxanne" was covered by George Michael on the album "Songs from the Last Century."
- #042
He attended Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.
- #043
He was first recorded in 1972 with the Newcastle Big Band.
- #044
The final scene of CBGB (2013) shows the police auditioning for a concert at the club. His daughter Mickey Sumner appears in the film as Patti Smith.
- #045
His children are Joseph Sumner (b. 23 November 1976) and Fuschia Sumner (b. 17 April 1982) with Frances Tomelty, and Mickey Sumner (b. 19 January 1984), Jake Sumner (b. 24 May 1985), Eliot Sumner (b. 30 July 1990) and Giacomo Sumner (b. 17 December 1995) with Trudie Styler.
- #046
He won the 2002 Ivor Novello International Achievement Award.
- #047
The first Police single was "Fall Out" in 1978.
- #048
Before moving into pop music, he began working as a schoolteacher and went on to lead the band The Police under the name Sting, which he took because he wore a black-and-white sweater that made him look like a bee.
- #049
His album "The Soul Cages" (1991) was largely inspired by the grief he felt over the deaths of his parents, Ernest and Audrey, who died the same year.
- #050
He attended St. Cuthbert Catholic High School in Newcastle, though at the time he attended it was a Catholic primary school. Other students included TV presenter Declan Donnelly, Pet Shop Boys lead singer Neil Tennant, British prisoner of war and journalist John Nichol, and the renowned architect Terry Farrell, who designed the MI6 building overlooking the Thames in London.
- #051
He is the godfather of Madonna's newborn son Rocco Ritchie. Both "Madonna" and "Sting" are mononyms.
- #052
Sting also plays the lute, as heard on his 2006 album Songs from the Labyrinth.
- #053
He ranked 63rd on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of Rock & Roll and 9th on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.
- #054
He received a 2014 Kennedy Center Honor. That year's other recipients were Al Green, Tom Hanks, Patricia McBride and Lily Tomlin.
- #055
He was the visual inspiration for the original drawings of the supernatural detective John Constantine/Hellblazer (created by Alan Moore and Stephen Bissette in 1984). Sting was 33 at the time.
- #056
His eldest daughter is the actress Fuschia Sumner.
- #057
He was the first champion of the 1980 Steinberger L2, a black solid-body "broomstick" electric bass.
- #058
Five of his Police albums went platinum.
- #059
In October 2007 he published his book "Lyrics".
- #060
His brother owns a bar in Newcastle.
- #061
In 1987 he released the acclaimed double album "Nothing Like the Sun" and went on a world tour in 1988.
- #062
In September 2007 he stayed at the Amstel Hotel in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for two shows at the Amsterdam Arena.
- #063
He released an album with Shaggy titled "44/876"; the numbers refer to the telephone country codes of the artists' home countries, the United Kingdom and Jamaica.
- #064
Three years later he graduated from a teacher-training college and taught English and coached football at St. Catherine's Convent School in Newcastle upon Tyne.
- #065
He was to make a cameo in Dune: Part One (2021) but had to step back because of his commitment to Kaamelott: First Installment (2021).
- #066
He is the former brother-in-law of Roma Tomelty.
- #067
He is the former son-in-law of the actor and writer Joseph Tomelty.
- #068
His 1987 hit "Englishman in New York" was covered in 2006 by the Spanish rap and hip hop singer Dark la Eme, who retitled it "Un Asturiano en Madrid" for his studio album "Chigre y Dragón" (chigre is an Asturian word describing any bar where cider is mainly consumed; not to be confused with a cider house).
- #069
He began playing guitar at the age of nine and later played with the bands Phoenix and Last Exit; during that time he met Stewart Copeland, moved to London and formed The Police, who made their debut in August 1977.
- #070
At 17 he applied for a seaman's card and signed on with Princess Cruises as the bassist of the Ronnie Pierson Trio.
- #071
He plays bass with the bands Phoenix and Last Exit.
- #072
Sting met Stewart Copeland while playing in Last Exit, moved to London, and formed The Police, who gave their first performance in August 1977.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb
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