How a rusty old guitar gave Sting a way out
Gordon Sumner is far better known by his stage name, Sting. From the formation in 1977 to the split in 1986, Sting fronted the English new wave rock outfit, the Police. Following the band’s dissolution, Sting launched an impressive solo career that toyed with the conventions of jazz, reggae, classical and folk.
Recently, String relayed his early inspirations for his career and noted his beginnings growing up with a massive tanker ship at the end of his road in Wallsend, North Tyneside. “It was a very industrial landscape to be brought into, and I suppose it informed my artistic life in a way,” he said, adding that he felt that they were potent symbols indeed.
He continued: “These ships that would go away into the world, and seeing thousands of workers pass my front door every day. I wondered, as a kid, if that would be my destiny because there wasn’t much opportunity in the town. So I suppose that informed my artistic life, and I saw music as a way to escape.”
Sting’s musical influence also came directly from his household. His mother played the piano to a high level, and his father could sing. “When they weren’t fighting, they would actually perform together,” he said. “That wasn’t very often [however]. At home or at parties, [they played] folk songs, and my mum also used to love to play tango. That was one of my first memories.”
It was Sting’s mother who also brought records into the house that would shape his early taste. Amongst them were 75’s of Jerry Lee Lewis, ‘Great Balls of Fire’, and Little Richard. “When I first heard ‘All Shook Up’ by Elvis Presley, I remember having an almost catatonic fit of rolling around on the floor with this music,” Sting noted. “It did something to me.”
Sting’s first experience of playing a musical instrument came from an old Spanish guitar that one of his “uncles” left behind when he moved to Toronto. “He wasn’t my real uncle,” Sting said. “Everyone on the street was your uncle. He bequeathed it to me. It had five rusty strings. I fell on that thing like it was my saviour.” It was a fortunate occurrence for the young Sting, and no doubt played a significant hand in shaping his envious career.
With the guitar in hand, Sting bought a book of chords and scales and set about teaching himself to play. “I didn’t speak to anybody for days, but at the end of a few weeks, I could knock out a tune,” he said. It marked the first time that Sting believed that he could make a living from music. He concluded, “I thought, ‘this is a way out.'”
