Born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, Sting traveled a long musical road before ending up where he is today. Born in the shipbuilding town of Newcastle, England, to a milkman father and a hairdresser mother, Sting's first interest in music began when one of his father's friends left behind an old Spanish guitar at his house. At a young age, Sting would sneak into local music venues. He witnessed acts like Jimi Hendrix and Cream - artists who would eventually have a direct influence on his own music. Sting held jobs as a bus driver, construction laborer and school teacher while performing jazz gigs in a band called Last Exit. During this time he received his nicknamed after wearing a yellow and black sweater. Feeling a pull to a more metropolitan music scene, Sting moved to London in the late 1970s. He quickly started playing with drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Henry Padovani (soon to be replaced by the better and more capable Andy Summers). This would become the new-wave group The Police. The trio would go on to become one of the biggest and best selling acts in the world. Eventually Sting would go on to create his own solo act, opting to pursue a more world-music and jazz heavy sound. After succeeding in both endeavors, Sting still occasionally tours with The Police.
