About The Police
The Police are a three-piece rock band consisting of bassist/lead vocalist Sting (Gordon Sumner), guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland. The band became globally popular in the early 1980s, playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz, reggae, and punk music. Their 1983 album, Synchronicity, was number one in the UK and the US and sold over 8,000,000 copies in the US. The band broke up in the mid-1980s, but reunited in early 2007 with the announcement that they were undertaking a world tour. The tour was scheduled from the middle of that year on until mid-2008, in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their hit single "Roxanne" and also, to a lesser extent, that of their formation as a group. To date The Police have sold over 50 million albums worldwide. Rolling Stone ranked The Police number 70 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Although there was never an official split, each band member pursued his own solo career after the Synchronicity tour ended in March 1984. In June 1986, the trio reconvened to play three concerts for the Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope Tour. In July of that year, a tense short-lived reunion in the studio produced only subdued re-recordings of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da". The former was released in October 1986 as their final single together in the form of "Don't Stand So Close To Me '86" (a substantially reworked version of the 1980 original), appeared on the compilation Every Breath You Take: The Singles, and made the UK Top 25. By this time, it was clear that Sting had no intention of continuing with the band, having already released a successful solo debut LP in 1985, the jazz-influenced The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
In early 2007, reports surfaced that the trio would reunite for a tour to mark their 30th anniversary, over 20 years since their 'final' split in summer 1986. The concerts would coincide with Universal Music (current owners of the A&M label) re-releasing some material from the band's back catalogue. The following statement was released on behalf of the band by a spokesperson at Interscope Geffen A&M Records and posted on Sting's official website: "As the 30th anniversary of the first Police single approaches, discussions have been underway as to how this will be commemorated. While we can confirm that there will indeed be something special done to mark the occasion, the depth of the band's involvement still remains undetermined."
In February 2008, The Police announced that once they are finished touring they will break up again. According to Sting, "There will be no new album, no big new tour, once we're done with our reunion tour, that's it for the Police".
On May 5th, 2008 The Police announced their final show will be played in New York City. Proceeds will go toward arts programming for the city's public television stations. The group made the announcement while donating $1 million to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to plant 1 million trees in the city by 2017.
5 Studio albums have been released:
Outlandos d'Amour - November, 1978 - UK #6; US #23 - US sales: Platinum
Reggatta de Blanc - October, 1979 - UK #1; US #25 - US sales: Platinum
Zenyattà Mondatta - October, 1980 - UK #1; US #5 - US sales: 2x Platinum
Ghost in the Machine - October, 1981 - UK #1; US #2 - US sales: 3x Platinum
Synchronicity - June, 1983 - UK #1; US #1 - US sales: 8x Platinum
Official members of Tweaker:
Sting
Andy Summers
Stewart Copeland
