Andy Summers: Last News

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Welcome back, Sting +2 … or, in the parlance of the current tour, “Sting 3.0.” Power trios are a thing, and roughly four decades after he was last officially a regular, ongoing member of one, Sting has come back around to seeing the glory of the maxim that triads are rad. (Sorry, we actually just coined that.) Sting is joined on this year-long-plus outing (which began in September and has dates booked through October 2025) by his guitarist of the last 35 years, Dominic Miller, and a not-nearly-so-longstanding drummer, Chris Maas.

Sky Arts have revealed the UK’s favourite guitar riff in a brand new three part documentary series, titled, Greatest Guitar Riffs, which aired on November 24.A poll of 2000 music fans votes was carried out to find out the nation’s favourite riff, and included in the top 40 were Sam Fender’s ‘Seventeen Going Under’, Arctic Moneys’ ‘Do I Wanna Know’ and Pharrell William’s ‘Happy’.But the top choice was revealed as ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ by Guns N’ Roses. The track, which was released in June 1988, quickly topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the rock band’s only US Number One single.It came in at number 88th on Rolling Stone’s The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time list in 2021, and is clearly still a favourite of the UK public.‘Purple Rain’ by Prince was the runner-up, with ‘Sultans Of Swing’ by British rock band, Dire Straits, coming in at third place.Director of Sky Arts, Phil Edgar-Jones, spoke on the series saying: “Whether its’ the late, great Jimi Hendrix, the stalwarts such as Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin, or the new artists coming through, rock n’roll will never die.”“There’s new talent coming through constantly.

The Police have launched an official TikTok account to mark the 40th anniversary of their fifth and final album ‘Synchronicity’.The trio – comprising Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland – will treat fans to new original content on the platform and share some never-before-seen footage from the archive.The Police are also set to present “an intimate window into the creative process of their timeless hits” through TikTok’s #BehindTheSong community.Speaking about joining the site, guitarist Summers explained: “It is great to continue the legacy of The Police and what better place than TikTok in the time we exist in.“We live in – let’s face it, difficult times, but imagine our parents and grandparents then bent over those little radio speakers to hear about the world.”He continued: “As aficionados and fans, we must continue to have faith and believe in the art of music, and we hope our music can bring a positive message to people everywhere.

Naman Ramachandran The 2024 edition of the U.K.’s annual Brit Awards will take place on March 2 and will continue its primetime slot on broadcaster ITV1 and streamer ITVX, live from The O2 arena in London. Damian Christian, managing director and president of promotions at Atlantic Records (part of Warner Music U.K.) will continue as chair of the Brit committee for 2024; Sally Wood will stay on as executive producer of the show for Brits TV; and Misty Buckley will return to design the set for the awards.

Michaela Zee editor The music video for the Police’s 1983 single “Every Breath You Take” has surpassed one billion views on YouTube. “Every Breath You Take,” which was added to the platform in 2010, is the 225th video to join YouTube’s Billion Views Club and the seventh video from the 1980s to achieve this milestone. The Sting-penned ballad was originally released as part of the band’s final studio album, 1983’s “Synchronicity.” Directed by English music duo Godley & Creme, the music video captures the trio in black and white, with Sting on double bass, Andy Summers on guitar and Stewart Copeland on drums.