Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), was born on 02 October 1951, better known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and also launched a solo career in 1985. He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, and new-age in his music. As a solo musician and a member of the Police, he has received 16 Grammy Awards (his first in the category of best rock instrumental in 1980, for "Reggatta de Blanc"), three Brit Awards, including Best British Male in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four nominations…show more content… Solo and with the Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records. In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1's 100 greatest artists of rock, and 80th of Q magazine's 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century. He has collaborated with other musicians, including "Rise & Fall" with Craig David, "All for Love", with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, "You Will Be My Ain True Love" with Alison Krauss, he sang backing vocals on Arcadia's single "The Promise", and on two songs from Phil Collins' album No Jacket Required. Sting introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences by his international hit "Desert Rose" with Cheb Mami. Singers of Raï are called cheb or shabab (young) as opposed to sheikh (old), the name given to Chaabi singers. Raï (which means opinion or advice) is a type of Algerian popular folk music that arose in the 1920s in the port city of Oran. It appealed to young people who sought to modernize the traditional Islamic values and attitudes. Its musical style has regional, secular, and religious drum patterns, melodies, and instruments that were blended with Western electric…show more content… He appeared in several films, including the science-fiction drama Dune (1984), Stormy Monday in 1988, The Grotesque in 1995 and the popular British crime film Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). He worked on soundtracks for such films as The Mighty (1998), The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) and The Emperor's New Groove (2000). In 2011, Time magazine named Sting one of the 100 most influential people in the world. On 15 September 2011, Sting performed "Fragile" at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, to honor the memory of his friend, financier-philanthropist Herman Sandler, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Toronto documentary producer Vanessa Dylyn, who was producing a film called The Musical Brain, featuring neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, approached Sting about the film. Sting was interested in having his brain scanned while different music was played. "Brand New Day" was the final song of the night for the Neighborhood Ball, one of ten inaugural balls honoring President Barack Obama on Inauguration Day, 20 January
