Why Sting challenges himself to push his artistry into new forms

By — Geoff Bennett Geoff Bennett By — Anne Azzi Davenport Anne Azzi Davenport By — Jackson Hudgins Jackson Hudgins By — Hunter Bonaparte Hunter Bonaparte Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-sting-challenges-himself-to-push-his-artistry-into-new-forms Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio Sting’s music is known around the world. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 100 million records, first as the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for The Police, and later as a solo artist. Now, as he continues to tour internationally, he’s also expanding his creative repertoire. Geoff Bennett met up with Sting for our arts and culture series, CANVAS. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: Sting's music is known around the world. Over the course of his career, he's sold more than 100 million records, first as the front man, principal songwriter, and bassist for The Police, and later as a solo artist. Now, as he continues to tour internationally, he's also expanding his creative repertoire. This month, he will return to the stage in "The Last Ship," the original musical for which he wrote the music and lyrics in a production at the Metropolitan Opera. I met up with Sting at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts to talk about this deeply personal work and his enduring desire to keep challenging himself creatively. It's part of our arts and culture series, Canvas. (Music) Geoff Bennett: They're some of the most enduring songs in rock 'n' roll history, from folk ballads to jazz-inflected reggae. Sting has done something rare, defined multiple generations, while defying easy categorization. Sting, Musician: You know, the best compliment a songwriter can receive is someone coming up to you in the street saying, oh, we got married to your song, we fell in love to your song, or we buried Uncle Charlie to your song. So that means the song has a functional use in society, that people use the song as a kind of emotional touchstone for their memory, their emotion. And that's an important job, so I feel justified in having this wonderful life, because I do give people that service, if you like. Geoff Bennett: Now at 74, nearly five decades into his career, Sting is pushing forward by going back to the basics, touring the world with a trio, drums, bass and guitar, a stripped-down sound that he says has given the songs room to breathe. This tour, Sting 3.0, what made this the right time to return to the raw simplicity of a three-piece band? Sting: You know, I have had many different configurations in my career, seven-piece, nine-piece, four-piece. And I have some experience with the trio. Geoff Bennett: That's right. Sting: Very successful experience with a trio. So, I thought, let's go back to that and see if the songs are sturdy enoug