Bad news for a good portion of your dating app matches: Sting doesn’t think grown men should be in bands. The 70-year-old former Police frontman shared his thoughts on aging out of rock stardom in a recent interview with MOJO (via Tone Deaf), asserting that “a band is a teenage gang.”
“I don’t think any grown man can be in a band, actually,” Sting said. “A band is a teenage gang. Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you’re knocking 70? It doesn’t allow you to evolve.”
The self-proclaimed heavy metal singer continued: “You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the [Rolling] Stones and AC/DC, it’s hard to see growth in their music.”
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Sting conveniently glossed over the fact that he fronted The Police between the ages of 26 to 32, meaning he was, in fact, in a band as a grown man. Perhaps “grown” has a bit of a looser definition in the rock world? Nevertheless, Sting made his solo debut with 1985’s The Dream of the Blue Turtles, which was quite successful both in the US and in his English homeland.
Had his solo career not been so profitable, however, Sting added that he retrospectively hopes he wouldn’t have rejoined The Police: “For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way round.” He added, “I was lucky [the album] was a hit. I have no idea what would have happened if it hadn’t been a hit. Would I have gone back to the band and eaten humble pie? I hope not.”
Earlier this year, Sting sold his entire songwriting catalog — both solo and with The Police — to Universal Music Group for an estimated price tag of $300 million, becoming just one of many aging musicians who have made similar business deals lately. The rocker also recently spoke to Consequence about “Por Su Amor,” a new Spanish version of his song “For Her Love” that he recorded with Latin Grammy Award nominee KURT. Sting’s last studio album was 2021’s The Bridge.
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