Editing Sting (musician) (section)

===1985–1989: Solo debut===
[[File:Sting 21111985 06 700.jpg|thumb|left|Sting performing in Norway in 1985]]
Sting's first solo album, 1985's ''[[The Dream of the Blue Turtles]]'', featured [[jazz]] musicians including [[Kenny Kirkland]], [[Darryl Jones]], [[Omar Hakim]] and [[Branford Marsalis]]. It included the hit singles "[[If You Love Somebody Set Them Free]]" (backed with the non-LP song "Another Day"), "[[Fortress Around Your Heart]]", "[[Love Is the Seventh Wave]]" and "[[Russians (song)|Russians]]", the latter of which was based on a theme from the ''[[Lieutenant Kijé (Prokofiev)|Lieutenant Kijé]] Suite''.<ref>Analysis of this song, the H. Eisler-adaption ''The Secret Marriage'' and the J.S. Bach-quote in ''Whenever I Say Your Name'' in: [[Michael Custodis]], chapter "Sting als Songwriter zwischen Prokofiev, Eisler, Bach und Dowland", in: Klassische Musik heute. Eine Spurensuche in der Rockmusik, Bielefeld transcript-Verlag 2009 {{ISBN|978-3-8376-1249-3}}</ref> Within a year, the album reached Triple [[Gold album|Platinum]]. The album received [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]], [[Best Male Pop Vocal Performance]], [[Best Jazz Instrumental Performance]] and [[Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical|Best Engineered Recording]].<ref>[http://www.grammy.com/artist/sting "Grammy Awards – Sting"]. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 November 2014</ref>

In November 1984, Sting was part of [[Band Aid (band)|Band Aid]]'s "[[Do They Know It's Christmas?]]", which raised money for [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia|famine victims in Ethiopia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111219224029/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1643506/looking-back-at-live-aid-25-years-later.jhtml Looking Back At Live Aid, 25 Years Later] MTV. Retrieved 1 December 2011</ref> Released in June 1985, Sting sang the line "I Want My MTV" on "[[Money for Nothing (song)|Money for Nothing]]" by [[Dire Straits]].<ref>{{cite news |title=When Mark Knopfler and Sting Connected for 'Money for Nothing' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mark-knopfler-sting-money-for-nothing/ |access-date=30 November 2020 |magazine=Ultimate Classic Rock}}</ref> In July 1985, Sting performed Police hits at the [[Live Aid]] concert at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] in London. He also joined Dire Straits in "Money for Nothing" and he sang two duets with [[Phil Collins]].<ref>[http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-aid-dvd-boxed-set-r714784 Live Aid – DVD Boxed Set] AllMusic. Retrieved 15 September 2011</ref><ref name="Live Aid">{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/702700.stm | title= Live Aid: The show that rocked the world | work=BBC News | date=5 April 2000 | access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref> In 1985, Sting provided spoken vocals for the [[Miles Davis]] album ''[[You're Under Arrest (Miles Davis album)|You're Under Arrest]]'', taking the role of a French-speaking police officer. He also sang backing vocals on [[Arcadia (band)|Arcadia's]] single "[[The Promise (Arcadia song)|The Promise]]", on two songs from Phil Collins' album ''[[No Jacket Required]]'', and contributed "[[Mack the Knife]]" to the [[Hal Willner]]-produced tribute album ''[[Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill]]''. In September 1985, he performed "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" at the [[1985 MTV Video Music Awards]] at the [[Radio City Music Hall]] in New York.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080828042230/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/performers.jhtml 1985 MTV Video Music Awards] MTV. Retrieved 4 December 2011</ref> The 1985 film ''[[Bring On the Night (film)|Bring On the Night]]'', directed by [[Michael Apted]], documented the formation of his solo band and its first concert in France.<ref>{{cite book| title= New York Times Film Reviews| page= 160| publisher= The New York Times Company| year= 1988}}</ref>

[[File:Sting-Bono-Conspiracy of Hope-by Steven Toole.jpg|thumb|right|Sting and [[Bono]] at the [[Conspiracy of Hope]] concert in New Jersey, 1986]]

Sting released ''[[...Nothing Like the Sun]]'' in 1987, including singles, "[[We'll Be Together (Sting song)|We'll Be Together]]", "[[Fragile (Sting song)|Fragile]]", "[[Englishman in New York]]" and "[[Be Still My Beating Heart]]", dedicated to his mother, who had recently died. It went Double Platinum. "The Secret Marriage" from this album was adapted from [[Hanns Eisler]] and "Englishman in New York" was about [[Quentin Crisp]]. The album's title is from William Shakespeare's [[Sonnet 130]].<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/nothing-like-the-sun-19970122 Nothing Like the Sun Album Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103180924/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/nothing-like-the-sun-19970122 |date=3 November 2012 }} ''Rolling Stone''. 29 December 2011</ref> The album won Best British Album at the 1988 [[Brit Awards]] and in 1989 received three [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations including his second consecutive nomination for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]]. "[[Be Still My Beating Heart]]" earned nominations for [[Grammy Award for Song of the Year|Song of the Year]] and [[Best Male Pop Vocal Performance]]. In 1989, ''...Nothing Like the Sun'' was ranked number 90 and his Police album ''[[Synchronicity (The Police album)|Synchronicity]]'' was ranked number 17 on ''Rolling Stone''{{'}}s 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.<ref>"The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s." ''Rolling Stone''. Special Issue 1990. Retrieved 19 November 2011</ref>

In February 1988, he made ''[[Nada como el sol]]'', four songs from ''Nothing like the Sun'' he sang in Spanish and Portuguese. In 1987, jazz arranger [[Gil Evans]] placed him in a big band setting for a live album of Sting's songs, and on [[Frank Zappa]]'s 1988 ''[[Broadway the Hard Way]]'' he performed an arrangement of "Murder by Numbers", set to "[[Stolen Moments (Oliver Nelson song)|Stolen Moments]]" by [[Oliver Nelson]] and dedicated to evangelist [[Jimmy Swaggart]]. In October 1988 he recorded a version of [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[The Soldier's Tale]]'' with the London Sinfonietta conducted by [[Kent Nagano]]. It featured [[Vanessa Redgrave]], [[Ian McKellen]], [[Gianna Nannini]] and Sting as the soldier.<ref>Barry Lazell (1989). ''Rock movers & shakers'' p.487. Billboard Publications, Inc., 1989</ref>