During a recent interview, Sting revealed that he was acting like a dictator while he was in the Police as he was writing all the songs and calling the shots.
Sting was the frontman of The Police from 1977 to 1986, and for nine years, they reached a success described as the ‘Everest.’ The band achieved remarkable fame, which made them think that it wouldn’t get better than that. This encouraged the band members to disband and try to pursue solo careers.
Going solo was a big risk for the band and Sting, as they expected the band’s momentum to carry them to success individually as well. However, it wasn’t that different for Sting because he was the band’s primary songwriter, and the only difference would be writing lyrics for himself. He had written the lyrics of The Police’s biggest hits, such as Roxanne,’ ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,’ and ‘Every Breath You Take.’
Sting recently revealed him writing all the songs created big problems in the band and messed their egos. According to the singer, while democracy ruled initially, it slowly shifted to benign dictatorship because someone had to make the decisions. He also stated how upset he was that egos got involved after everything they had been through together.
Sting talked about the band’s dictatorship by stating:
“It was tough for the other guys, and it was tough for me too because I love the guys. We’d had this fantastic adventure together and been through so many things and success. We were a little guerrilla outfit, we were at war, and we did it in our way, without much help. So to see it sort of falling apart for ego, my own and theirs, made me sad. It still does.
The tension between the members of the band was becoming more apparent, you know because I was writing all the songs it’s always a problem with bands. At first, it is a kind of democracy, and then it becomes not a democracy, it becomes a benign dictatorship, I would say. But that’s the nature of art. You know, somebody has to step up and say ‘Okay, we’re gonna go this way.'”
1986 wasn’t their final year together as they reunited for a tour between 2007-2008 in honor of The Police’s 30th anniversary. The fans were excited with the hope of an actual reunion, new album, and other tours but, The Police killed the possibility by announcing that they came together just for their 30th-anniversary reunion and nothing more.
