Sting

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, activist, and actor. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music. Sting has sold a combined total of more than 100 million records as a solo artist and as a member of the Police. He has received three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution to Music in 2002; a Golden Globe; an Emmy; and four Academy Award nominations. As a solo musician and as a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. Sting has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors; a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to music; Kennedy Center Honors; and the Polar Music Prize. In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born at Sir G B Hunter Memorial Hospital in Wallsend, Northumberland, England, on 2 October 1951, the eldest of four children of Audrey (née Cowell), a hairdresser, and Ernest Matthew Sumner, a milkman and former fitter at an engineering works. He grew up near Wallsend's shipyards, which made an impression on him. As a child, he was inspired by the Queen Mother waving at him from a Rolls-Royce to divert from the shipyard prospect towards a more glamorous life. He helped his father deliver milk and by ten was "obsessed" with an old Spanish guitar left by an emigrating friend of his father. Sting attended St Cuthbert's Grammar School in Newcastle upon Tyne. He visited nightclubs such as Club A'Gogo to see Cream and Manfred Mann, who influenced his music. He learned to sing and play simultaneously by listening to records at 78 rpm. After leaving school in 1969, he enrolled at the University of Warwick in Coventry, but left after a term. After working as a bus conductor, building labourer, and tax officer, he attended the Northern Counties College of Education (now Northumbria University) from 1971 to 1974 and qualified as a teacher.[20] He taught at St Paul's First School in Cramlington for two years. Sting performed jazz in the evenings, at weekends, and during breaks from college and teaching, playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band and Last Exit. He gained his nickname after his habit of wearing a black and yellow jumper with hooped stripes with the Phoenix Jazzmen. Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought he looked like a bee (or according to Sting himself, "they thought I looked like a wasp"), which prompted the name "Sting". In the 1985 documentary Bring On the Night a journalist called him Gordon, to which he replied, "My children call me Sting, my mother calls me Sting, who is this Gordon character?" In 2011, he told Time "I was never called Gordon. You could shout 'Gordon' in the street and I would just move out of your way". Despite this, he chose not to legally change his name to "Sting". ... Source: Article "Sting (musician)" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Sting, bürgerlich Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (* 2. Oktober 1951 in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England), ist ein britischer Musiker, Komponist und Schauspieler.

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, dit Sting, est un auteur-compositeur-interprète, musicien, producteur et acteur britannique, né le 2 octobre 1951 à Wallsend (Angleterre). Multi-instrumentiste, il joue notamment de la basse, de la guitare et des claviers. Il a acquis la célébrité au sein du groupe pop rock The Police en tant que bassiste et chanteur, avant de connaître également le succès en menant une carrière en solo à partir de 1985 riche de quinze albums studio. Comme acteur, il est notamment connu pour son rôle dans Dune de David Lynch. Il a reçu diverses distinctions, étant notamment décoré de l'ordre de l'Empire britannique. Fils aîné d'Ernest Sumner (1926-1987), ouvrier naval devenu livreur de lait pour échapper à la crise de ce secteur, et d'Audrey Cowell (1931-1987), qui travaille dans un salon de coiffure, Gordon Sumner a un frère, Philip, et deux sœurs, Angela et Anita. Il se passionne tôt pour la musique, encouragé par sa mère, pianiste amatrice, mais sans l'approbation de son père qui veut le voir faire un «vrai métier». Au début des années 1960, il découvre la guitare que son oncle a laissée dans la maison et se saigne les doigts à apprendre à jouer de cet instrument. Il fait donc ses premières armes musicales à la guitare, mais découvre aussi la mandoline, le saxophone, l'harmonica et la flûte de Pan. Il suit les cours du Northern Counties College of Education de 1971 à 1974, puis est instituteur pendant deux ans à la St. Paul's Middle School de Cramlington. C'est pendant ces années qu'il joue avec des groupes de jazz le soir et les week-ends. Son surnom de «Sting» lui est attribué en 1972 après le concert d'un de ses groupes, The Phoenix Jazzmen, alors qu'il porte un pull noir à rayures jaunes sur scène: le trombone et leader du groupe, Gordon Soloman, trouve qu'il ressemblait à une guêpe d'où le nom («Sting» veut dire «dard» ou «piqûre») (Soloman faisant probablement référence aussi à ses performances sexuelles). The Phoenix Jazzmen décident finalement de mettre fin à leur répertoire de reprises et d'interpréter leurs propres compositions. À la surprise générale, Sting ne connaît pas le solfège et est provisoirement renvoyé. Il apprend le solfège en une trentaine de jours mais déjà remplacé, il ne peut pas réintégrer le groupe. ... Source: Article "Sting" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA.