Sting Shares How He Got His Nickname

Sting Shares How He Got His Nickname | Society Of Rock Videos

via The Howard Stern Show / Youtube

Sting was invited to The Howard Stern Show, where he shared the reason behind his nickname and the story about writing the classic “Roxanne.”

Prior to that, he was asked by the host how does he feel about receiving the 16 Grammy Awards that he got over the course of his career. Stern asked him:

“Are you the kind of guy who says my awards are important to me or is that meaningless to you?”

Sting replied:

“It’s pretty meaningless, but I enjoy receiving them.”

Sting explained that it’s a mixed feeling, it’s an ambivalent one. He then also revealed that he doesn’t put it in a safety case or cabinet, but he stores it inside the bathroom. On a serious note, Sting admitted that it was totally mind-blowing considering that he has sold over 100 million copies of his albums worldwide.

So when the host asked him where did he get his nickname, “Sting,” from, he recalled that one incident wherein he attended a music session. At that time, Sting was wearing a black and yellow outfit, thus making him look like a bee. Then the trombone player from a traditional jazz group in that location, by the name of Gordon Solomon, called him “Sting.”

People thought it was funny and that they used to call him by that nickname, even his own mother. So from when he was 18 years old, every single band who hired him called him “Sting.”

Moving forward, the host then goes into the details of The Police’s “Roxanne,” a song that Sting himself wrote. He recalled that he wrote this song when he and his band were staying in Paris. At that time, the band was staying in a very cheap motel room situated in a red-light district.

Since it was his first time seeing that kind of scenario, he was fascinated by it. Sting said that he couldn’t afford to hire a prostitute at that time, so he just dove into his imagination. Sting imagined how it would look like to be in a relationship with a prostitute and that’s when he wrote this song.

Watch the full interview below.

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