Sting on rock bands that never grow: “Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you’re 70?”
Throughout his time in the spotlight, Sting was always interested in pushing his music forward. From his early days in The Police to his solo career, the bass player had been looking to take pop music somewhere far beyond the traditional chord progressions, usually working with jazz musicians to create a distinct fusion between rock and roll, pop, and sophistication under one roof. Although Sting was never satisfied with settling on one genre, he thought that two of the biggest acts in the world couldn’t take their music further.
Then again, the entire reason The Police broke up was because of the constant creative tension in the group. Even though Sting was the breakout star because of his brilliant songs, his need to take music in different directions often came at the expense of the other members’ performances, with Stewart Copeland even threatening to fight the singer when he started asking him about the way he played the drums.
After the success of Synchronicity, the band figured that they had done all they could together, with every member going their separate ways and Sting moving on to more adventurous terrain on albums like Dream of the Blue Turtles. While Sting would occasionally score more massive hits like ‘Fortress Around Your Heart’ and ‘Fields of Gold’, becoming one of the biggest pinup stars in the world wasn’t his priority anymore.
Since he had reached the most incredible heights that he could have asked for with The Police, Sting was making music for himself, not catering to what was trendy in the charts and pushing himself to create works of art that stood as musical experiments rather than chart hits. Even though Sting admitted that he wasn’t looking to play cookie-cutter music anymore, he saw that some of his contemporaries spent their time chasing their tails.
When talking about his approach to music, Sting would say that he saw many rock bands that he grew up with not evolving past their initial sound. While many may have found their voice in music and stuck with it, the singer would say that acts like The Rolling Stones weren’t pushing the boundaries that they should have.
Sting would also single out AC/DC as another act that rested on their laurels, telling Done Deaf, “Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you’re knocking 70? It doesn’t allow you to evolve. You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the Stones and AC/DC, it’s hard to see growth in their music. For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way round”.
As much as The Stones may have found their sound and stuck with it, they did find ways to experiment throughout their time together as well, especially on their 1960s output like Between the Buttons and Their Satanic Majesties Request. And while AC/DC may have a unique sound, their emphasis on groove rather than sonic diversity has created some of the most unforgettable rock music of the past century. Although the growth of The Rolling Stones and AC/DC may be challenging to spot at first glance, their time honing their craft has turned them into rock veterans who have put what their fans want before everything else.
