Sting Information Continued
In September 1981, Sting made his first-ever solo live performance
performing on all four nights of the fourth Amnesty International benefit
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball at the invitation of producer Martin
Lewis. He also led an all-star band (dubbed "The Secret Police") on his
own arrangement of Bob
Dylan's "I Shall Be Released". The band included
Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck,
Phil Collins and Bob Geldof all of whom (except Beck) later worked
together on "Live Aid".
Sting released ...Nothing Like the Sun in 1987, which included the hit songs
"We'll Be Together", "Fragile", "Englishman in New York" and "Be Still
My Beating Heart", dedicated to his recently-deceased mother. It
eventually went Double Platinum and was recognized as one of the most
important rock & roll albums of the 1980s.
Sting reached a pinnacle of success in 1994. Together with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, they performed the chart-topping song "All For Love" from
the film The Three Musketeers. The song stayed at the top of the US
charts for five weeks and went Platinum; it is to date Sting's only song
from his post-Police career to top the US charts.
2002 was a year of awards for Sting. He won a Golden Globe Award and
was nominated for his second Academy Award for his song "Until ..." from
the film Kate & Leopold. In June, he was inducted into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame. Late in the year, it was announced that The Police would be
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2003. In the
summer, Sting was awarded the honour of Commander of the Order of the
British Empire (CBE).
