By John Stoddart

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born 2 October 1951), better known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician from Newcastle upon Tyne. Prior to starting his solo career, he was the principal composer, lead singer and bass player of the 70s/80s rock band, The Police.

Sting has stated that he gained his nickname while with The Phoenix Jazzmen. He once performed wearing a black and yellow jersey with stripes that made him look like a bumblebee; thus Sumner became ‘Sting’.

In 2002 Sting won a Golden Globe Award and in June, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In the summer, he was awarded the honour of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).

In 2003 with, he released Sacred Love, a studio album featuring collaborations with hip-hop artist Mary J Blige and sitar maestro Anoushka Shankar. He and Blige won a Grammy for their duet, ‘Whenever I Say Your Name’.

While with the Police, Sting wrote ‘Driven to Tears’, a scathing diatribe against world hunger, and it preceded his work on Sir Bob Geldof's ‘Feed The World’ project. Sumner sang on ‘Do They Know It's Christmas?’ - a hit single from Geldof's pop music super-group, Band Aid, which eventually led to the Live Aid Concert in July 1985.

Amnesty International: his most high-profile contribution to the human-rights cause came in 1988, when he joined a team of major musicians and rising stars - including Peter Gabriel and Bruce Springsteen -assembled under the banner of Amnesty International for the six-week World Human Rights Now! tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
In 1988, he released the single ‘They Dance Alone’ which chronicled the plight of the wives and daughters of ‘The Disappeared’, the innocent victims of the Pinochet regime in Chile. Unable to protest against the government about their missing loved ones, the women of Chile would pin photos of their relatives on their clothing, and dance in silent outrage against the government.
With his wife Trudie Styler and Raoni Metuktire, a Kayapó Indian leader in Brazil, Sumner founded the Rainforest Foundation to help save the rainforests. His support for these causes continues to this day, and includes an annual benefit concert held at New York's Carnegie Hall with Billy Joel, Elton John, James Taylor and other music superstars.