Byline: MICHAEL ANDREWS
STING, 55, was born Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner in Newcastle upon Tyne.He shot to fame in the late Seventies as the lead singer and bass player ofrock band The Police. He has two children - Joseph, 30, and Fuchsia Catherine,25 - from his first marriage to Frances Tomelty, and four - Brigitte Michael,23, Jake, 22, Eliot Paulina, 17, and Giacomo Luke, 11 - with his second wifeTrudie Styler, 53. He has a number of homes, including ones in Wiltshire, NewYork and Malibu..
WHAT WERE YOUR DREAMS AS A CHILD? TO BE a musician. My earliest memory issitting at my mother's feet as she played the piano - it was an upright, withworn brass pedals. She always played tangos for some reason. When she playedshe seemed to be transported somewhere else, her eyes intent upon the sheetmusic in front of her. It was the only time I wasn't the centre of her world,the only time she ignored me, so I knew this was something significant.
I suppose she initiated me into the mystery of music through those times. Iwould spend hours hammering away at the piano under the delusion that if Ipersisted long enough, my noise would become music. I still labour under thatdelusion.
WHEN WAS THE MOMENT YOU REALISED YOU WERE FAMOUS? Breguet Replica THE first time you hear yourown song playing on the radio is an amazing feeling. I was painting the ceilingat the time and I almost fell off the ladder.
Nothing can live up to that moment; everything else afterwards has a sense ofdiminishing returns. At the time, I didn't know for sure if I was going to befamous - I might never have had another hit record - but it felt like I hadarrived.
WOULD YOU RATHER BE RICH AND FAMOUS OR POOR AND ANONYMOUS? I'M VERY glad Ididn't become a celebrity till I was 27.
Before that I was a teacher with a real job and a pension and a mortgage. Iffame had happened to me ten years earlier, I think I would have gone crazy. ButI already had a sense of perspective when celebrity came along, and so I couldenjoy it. People are generally polite to me when they meet me, and if they'renot, then I'm from Newcastle and I can say what I like to them! HAVE YOU HAD TOCHANGE YOUR LIFE AS A CELEBRITY? NO, because I measure my success by myrelationships and friendships rather than how much money is in the bank. I wantto live as normally as possible. I demand my right to walk around in a normalway without protection or bodyguards. I go out and get the newspapers in themorning, I walk the dogs and I demand respect from people on the street - notas Sting, but as a guy who's got the same right to be there as anyone else inthe community. I'm a citizen, if you like, and I have citizen's rights.
DO YOU HAVE ANY REGRETS? I'VE SAID stupid things in the past and had to dealwith the fallout among friends and family. My brother is a milkman working inTyneside and my sister works at an airport. They're very familiar now with thefeeling of being embarrassed by me in the newspapers.
Ties Gift Set ClothingIn America, for example, people asked me what my home town was like, and I saidit was a nice place to bring up your food. I thought I was making a hilariousjoke at the time, but for those living in my home town it was an insult. I havelearned from my foolishness to be more circumspect and respectful. At least Ino
Illustration: leepeters.com longer have to protect my family from the glare ofpublicity - they've grown used to it.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD? I DON'T have a simple
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