His tour history is encyclopedic, whether solo, with pairings ranging from Annie Lennox to Shaggy or backed by a symphony. There was the lute album “Songs from the Labyrinth” in 2006 and his achingly personal 2013 album “The Last Ship” and subsequent musical that’s still morphing, as he explains.
His combined tenure fronting The Police and his distinguished solo career have netted 17Grammy Awards and a quartet of Oscar nominations.
There is no doubt that even on the cusp of 73, the well-preserved Sting is as musically voracious as ever, now paring down his usual band to a trio – himself, veteran guitar partner Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas – for what he’s amusingly dubbed Sting 3.0.
Though he was hesitant about going back to a trio format given the acrimonious dissolution of The Police, Sting says he’s “loving” this latest edition, which released.
A tour with the trio kickstarted in May overseas, with a U.S. leg of theaters commencing Sept. 17-18 in Detroit and running through Nov. 13. He’s also playing some stadium shows with buddy Billy Joel this fall.
Sting’s collaborations are always intriguing, from unlikely comrade Shaggy (“He brings something out of me. He’s Mr. Happy,” Sting says) to Dolly Parton, with whom he had the “great honor” to duet on “Every Breath You Take” for her 2023 “Rockstar” album (she’s invited Sting to Dollywood, but he hasn’t yet visited).
Chatting from his apartment studio overlooking New York’s Central Park, Sting delved into his latest musical endeavor, his affection for actor Austin Butler and why he’s “thrilled” to be doing the job he did “at 25, and people aren’t asking for their money back.”
The new song with Dominic and Chris, “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart),” has a very urgent feel to it and your voice is especially gruff, even Tom Waits-like. How did that song come about?
I wanted to throw something together very quickly with simple chords and that’s what I came up with. There were virtually no overdubs or thoughts about production. It was just the way a band sounds and that elemental aggressive sound is the surprise I wanted to give people this time. I think people will be surprised by my voice. But that wasn’t deliberate. I was right in the middle of finishing the last tour and I could barely speak, so that’s my natural voice when it gets fatigued.
