Nicknamed for a favorite yellow and black striped sweater, Sting was born Gordon Sumner in the north of England in 1951. Initially rising to fame as the bassist and singer for New Wave superstars The Police, he started a solo career in 1985 with the release of The Dream of the Blue Turtles, the first of eight platinum-selling recordings of literate, musically expansive adult-contemporary pop. The recipient of more than 15 GRAMMY® Awards, Sting has also acted in more than a dozen films, including Dune and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.