Current:Home > FinanceSting talks upcoming tour, friendship with Billy Joel and loving Austin Butler in 'Dune'-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Sting talks upcoming tour, friendship with Billy Joel and loving Austin Butler in 'Dune'
View Date:2024-12-23 19:45:35
For Sting, the rebirths are continual.
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 17 Grammy 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 the single “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)” on Thursday.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
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.”
More:Trans-Siberian Orchestra reveals 2024 dates for The Lost Christmas Eve tour
Question: There are plenty of hits on the setlist for this tour, but you’ve also been playing some little-heard tracks such as “Voices Inside My Head” (from The Police’s 1980 “Zenyatta Mondatta” album) and “Never Coming Home” (from Sting’s 2003 solo album, “Sacred Love”). Why do those songs work in this new live incarnation?
Answer: I hadn’t played “Voices” since it was written in the ‘80s. We just tried it out – it’s a simple riff and a vocal line – and I thought it was a good opening song. “Never Coming Home” I always loved and never managed to do a good version of it. But paradoxically, with this trio, it really works.
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.
We’re just beyond the 40th anniversary of “Synchronicity.” When you see “Every Breath You Take” pass the billion mark on Spotify and YouTube, could you ever have imagined that songs from that album would be so vital today?
When I wrote that song I knew it was a hit. We had a pretty good track record up until that point, but I knew it was a No. 1 hit. Its life beyond that, up to decades later, I could not have anticipated it.
Do you still like singing it?
Of course, I do. Everyone gets their cameras out.
And how do you feel about that?
I look at it as people like what they’re hearing. It’s visual applause. It looks pretty in the stadium, so I’m not going to object … it’s an affirmation that the song you’re doing they love.
You and Billy Joel are good friends and touring mates. What is it about him that you admire?
I’ve known Billy since 1980 and he came to see us on Long Island at the Nassau Coliseum on his own, in the dressing room. He seemed a really down-to-earth good guy and then I remember spending an evening with him at a piano and he started to play Beethoven, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis – he had it all at his fingertips. And I thought, you really are a true musician, you really are that guy, you really are the piano man. I have infinite respect for him.
Do you spend any time together when you’re at your stadium shows?
We share a backstage. I’m always in there borrowing something. He wanted to wear one of my suits but I said no.
One of your shiny suits?
Yep, yep. That (silver shiny) suit, it was made for me for (The Who’s film) “Quadrophenia” in 1978, tailor-made on Savile Row and it still fits me. That’s vanity for you!
Let’s detour back to your film career for a moment. As the original Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen in 1984’s “Dune,” what did you think of Austin Butler’s performance in the role in “Dune 2”?
I love him. He’s such a star, a really lovely actor. I met him at the premiere and he was very sweet. I love the performance. But I have one complaint about the Harkonnens, who are my people. I think they’re far too easy to kill in the new iteration. We were tougher. They seem to fall over by blowing on them (laughs). But it’s a beautifully made film. Our version is a bit more camp. A lot of the visual tropes do come from David Lynch’s version and I think they’d be the first to admit it.
More:Oasis adds new concerts to comeback tour due to 'phenomenal' demand
Before you did the My Songs tour, you brought it to Las Vegas for a Caesars Palace residency. Would you do another?
Absolutely, in a New York minute. I was a little trepidatious. I wasn’t sure who the audience would be, but the one that turned up was very international, very well-dressed, chic, sophisticated and I felt very much at home on that stage. I was warned that I couldn’t stand still because it’s the biggest stage in Vegas, so I got a head mic and was just wandering around the stage. I’m still wearing that (onstage) because I love the freedom it’s given me.
It’s been a decade since your autobiographical musical, “The Last Ship,” premiered in the U.S., but you’re still working on it?
I’m doing a new version of it, which is being performed in Europe next year and we may bring it to New York and London. I’m very passionate about it because it’s such a personal story for me and the community I was brought up with. It’s constantly a work in progress, so we’ll have that next year and will carry on touring with this wonderful three-piece.
veryGood! (1798)
Related
- Fantasy football Week 11: Trade value chart and rest of season rankings
- Biggest moments at the 2024 Emmy Awards, from Candice Bergen to 'Shogun'
- TikTokers Matt Howard and Abby Howard Slammed For Leaving Toddlers Alone in Cruise Ship Cabin
- Giving away a fortune: What could Warren Buffett’s adult children support?
- Stock market today: Asian stocks dip as Wall Street momentum slows with cooling Trump trade
- Tito Jackson of The Jackson 5 Dead at 70
- Is ‘Judge Judy’ on the Supreme Court? Lack of civics knowledge leads to colleges filling the gap
- Emmys 2024: Sarah Paulson Called Holland Taylor Her “Absolute Rock” and We’re Not OK
- Who will save Florida athletics? Gators need fixing, and it doesn't stop at Billy Napier
- Medicare Open Enrollment is only 1 month away. Here are 3 things all retirees should know.
Ranking
- Get Your Home Holiday-Ready & Decluttered With These Storage Solutions Starting at $14
- 'Shogun' rules Emmys; Who is Anna Sawai? Where have we seen Hiroyuki Sanada before?
- Horoscopes Today, September 14, 2024
- An appeals court won’t revive Brett Favre’s defamation lawsuit against Shannon Sharpe
- Stock market today: Asian shares mostly decline, shrugging off Wall Street’s overnight rally
- Kate Spade's Top 100 Under $100: $259 Bag for Just $49 Today Only, Plus Extra 20% Off Select Styles
- Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby signs two-year contract extension
- Target brings back popular car seat-trade in program: How you can get the discount
Recommendation
-
Republican Scott Baugh concedes to Democrat Dave Min in critical California House race
-
Martin Sheen, more 'West Wing' stars reunite on Oval Office set at Emmys
-
NFL Week 2 winners, losers: Bears have a protection problem with Caleb Williams
-
Oregon Republicans ask governor to protect voter rolls after DMV registered noncitizens
-
Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and More React to Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb as Co-Anchor
-
Meryl Streep Had the Best Reaction to Being Compared to a Jockstrap at 2024 Emmys
-
You'll Be Royally Flushed by the Awkward Way Kate Middleton Met Brother James Middleton's Wife
-
Vote South Dakota forum aims to shed light on ‘complicated’ election