The Police Biography

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The Police became famous and one of the most popular rock bands in the world in the early 1980’s. The band was founded by Stewart Copeland in 1977. Sting and Henry Padovani began rehearsing with Copeland in January 1977 and they recorded their first Police single, “Fall Out”/”Nothing Achieving” the next month. In May, Mike Howlett (ex Gong musician) invited Sting and Andy Summers (veteran guitarist) to form Strontium 90 with him as a project for the Gong reunion. Sting brought Stewart Copeland along for the gig. Strontium 90 had many demo tracks recorded and played at the Gong reunion concert in Paris on May 28, 1977. The four guys also performed at a London club together as “The Elevators” in July 1977.

In July of 1977, Copeland, Sting, Padovani, and Summers began performing as a four piece version of The Police. Padovani’s stay with the band was short. He left in August and was replaced by Summers as guitarist. The lineup of Copeland, Sting, and Summers would be it for the rest of Police history.

The Police are noted as one of the first mainstream white bands to adopt reggae as a musical form and scored international hits with their songs. The band is known for their bleached blonde hair. This notoriety came by accident as the band was asked to do a Wrigley’s Spearmint gum commercial and as a condition they were asked to dye their hair blonde!

The Police released “Outlandos d’Amour” as their first album. Copeland’s older brother Miles Copeland III heard “Roxanne” and immediately got the band a record deal with A&M Records. The “Roxanne” single was released in 1978. When the Police gained their widespread recognition in 1978 they decided to re-release “Roxanee” in 1979. This success led to a gig at a New York Club, CBGB, and a U.S. tour. In October of 1979 the band released their second album, “Reggatta de Blanc” which was a major hit.

In 1980 they began their world tour and were one of the first major rock bands to play in places like Mexico City, Mexico, Bombay, India and Egypt. After their world tour ended in the fall The Police released their third album, “Zenyatta Mondatta” in the fall of 1980. The single “Behind My Camel” won the band a Grammy for the Best Rock Instrumental Performance, in spite of Sting’s refusal to play on the track, and “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” won the band a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance for a Duo or Group.

It was about this time that Sting was clearly set on establishing a career outside of The Police. He began to take more control over the group and wrote most of the material which caused his relationship with Copeland to deteriorate. The Police’s fourth album, “Ghost in the Machine” was released in 1981. Hit singles “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” “Invisible Sun,” and “Spirits in the Material World” were produced from this album. The Police released their last album, “Synchronicity” in 1983. This album is considered a classic. This album had hits like, “Every Breath You Take,” “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” and “King of Pain.” “Every Breath You Take” won a Grammy for Song of the Year as well as a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. “Synchronicity II” won a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

There was never an official break up of the band, but each member went on to pursue their own solo career after their Synchronicity tour ended in March 1984. In 1986 the band reunited for the Amnesty International “A Conspiracy of Hope Tour.” In July of 1986 the band had a short reunion in the studio with “Don’t Stand so Close to Me” and “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da.” It became clear at this time that Sting had no intention of continuing with the band having already released a successful solo debut LP in 1985, “The Dream of the Blue Turtles.”

In March 2003 The Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle,” and “Every Breath You Take” live as a group. The song, “Every Breath You Take” was performed with Steven Tyler, Gwen Stefani, and John Mayer. Copeland has always been known for tightening his drum heads until his knuckles turned white and striking the drums with force, during this performance he was playing the drums so hard that the head of his snare drum broke! It was that fall that Sting released “Broken Music!”

In 2004, Henry Padovani released an album with Copeland and Sting on one track which reunited the original Police members for the first time since 1977. Also, in 2004 Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Police as #70 on the list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

In early 2007 The Police reunited and performed at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on February 11, 2007. This was the kickoff to their 2007 reunion tour as the 30th anniversary of the release of their first single. If you want to see this amazing band in concert check out the The Police Tour Schedule and buy The Police tickets now.

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