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Well here we go again. This time it’s the legendary artist Sting who has sold his entire catalog of songs including the material he composed and recorded with the Police. However, The Police material represents only a very small body of his work, although to many fans it’s his best material. Of course, the real Sting fans would argue against that point as Sting has released a phenomenal catalog of solo material that probably should not even be called solo material because it represents the majority of his recorded output. In the end, all of it has been sold to the Universal Music Group for a reported three hundred million dollars.,
Like many of his contemporaries, Sting has hit his seventies. Based on his age and the most recent onslaught of corporate America and Wall Street’s willingness to invest in all star music catalogs with huge sums of money probably made it an easy decision for Sting to sell his catalog. Sting follows in the footsteps of many other recent rock stars like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks and many others in giving up the rights to their music for a big ……a very big chunk of change.
Out of his entire catalog, Sting’s most valued song is easily his 1983 hit single with the Police entitled “Every Breath You Take.” It is just one of those songs that never gets old and continues to be celebrated by new generations of fans decade after decade. The song is also one of the most valued songs in the BMI Publishing catalog as the song has sold over fourteen million copies. You know we are all going to be hearing this one selling a lot of products, themes parks, cars, travel destinations and probably even a ride on Space X.
Sting’s catalog starts with the first Police album released in 1978 entitled Outlandos d’Amour. The album’s hit single entitled “Roxanne,” pretty much turned the band into a household name immediately. The song still remains a favourite of both Sting fans and Police fans. The band The Police that also included Stewart Copeland on drums and Andy Summers on guitar would release five studio albums together in their short run from 1978 to 1984. For a time in the early 1980s during their Synchronicity tour, they had become one of the biggest bands in the world as they even played Shea Stadium in Queens, New York. The same stadium The Beatles played in one one of their most iconic performances.
While Sting was on top of the world with the Police, he decided that he had enough of the group for many reasons and broke up the band breaking the hearts of millions of Police fans. Sting would then form a new group in embarking on his solo career. His backing band consisted of mostly jazz musicians who were part of the new jazz movement. This included such soon to be greats as Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland Darly Jones and Omar Hakim. Branford Marsalis and his brother Wynton Marsalis would become jazz legends in their own right. Daryl Jones would eventually become the long term bass player with the Rolling Stones replacing Bill Wyman.
Sting’s solo career would prove to be a successful one as each album he released continued his growth as a songwriter and musician. Sting has released fifteen studio albums since his 1985 solo debut album entitled The Dream Of The Blue Turtles to his most recent solo album released in 2021 entitled The Bridge.
Sting Sells His Entire Catalog Of Music Including The Police Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022
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