Sting Admires AC/DC But Doesn’t Want To Be Like Them

Sting recently made an appearance on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel for an interview. During the interview, he stated that his music will never be like AC/DC‘s, although he admires them.

Sting is a musician who gained fame as the frontman, lyricist, and bassist of the Police between 1977 and 1984. In 1985, he decided to embark on a solo career and made musical efforts, combining the elements of various genres such as jazz, rock, reggae, and new-beat. As of today, the award-winning musician has been in the music industry for five decades.

Sting and AC/DC belong to different genres now, but their paths crossed in 2003 when both the Police and AC/DC were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Besides, the band’s vocalist Brian Johnson also appeared on Sting’s 2013 album ‘The Last Ship’ as a guest artist.

In the interview on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel, Beato asked Sting if there are any artists who he thinks should’ve stopped making music years ago. As a musician who has been actively making music for decades, Sting said there are some, but he doesn’t want to mention their names. He then stated bands are like street gangs, and one doesn’t want to be in there for the rest of their lives as they need to explore and mature.

Following that, Beato said that he thought about this considering Sting’s past career in The Police. Sting then gave AC/DC as an example and praised their way of making music. He said that one always knows what they should expect and get from AC/DC, but it’s not the case for him.

During the interview on his YouTube channel, Rick Beato told Sting that:

“Without mentioning any artist, do you ever look at artists and think to yourself, ‘Oh, they should have stopped years ago.’?”

Sting responded:

Yes, I do. I think it’s very hard to leave a band after a certain point because a band is like a teenage gang. It’s like a street gang. You don’t want to be in a street gang for the rest of your life. You can’t mature. You can’t explore. You have to be stuck with this regiment of three people, say, ‘That’s it.’ So no, we shouldn’t mention anybody, but there’s no way out for them now.”

Following that, Beato said:

“Do you think that they know that too?”

Sting answered this question as:

“I have no idea, but I know.”

Beato continued:

“But of course, you think that. I’m not saying that the people at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I feel that way about any of them. I’m just saying that I thought about [it] when I was looking at you’re at The Police on the wall there, that struck me.”

Sting then stated:

“You know, I admire AC/DC, for example. I think what they do is fantastic. The way they play together and the sound are fantastic. You always know what you’re getting with an AC/DC record. It’s high quality, but you know what you’re going to get. So, yeah, but that’s not me.

You can watch the full interview below.