Sting: "I've Slept with Pilgrims by the Roadside and in the Palaces of the Maharajas'

IN A CHAT AHEAD OF HIS RETURN TO MUMBAI TO HEADLINE LOLLAPALOOZA INDIA IN JANUARY, THE LEGENDARY ARTIST TALKS ABOUT ACTIVISM, ACTING AND HIS LEGACY

- ANURAG TAGAT

FOR ANYONE going into the Sting headline set at Lollapalooza India in Mumbai this past weekend without any prior research of setlists and the like, the cheer that went up when the New York-based British artist launched into The Police song “Message In A Bottle” was loud and euphoric.

A few hours prior at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Colaba, Sting – dressed all in black, seated with his legs crossed and a pair of glasses tucked inside in his pocket – told Rolling Stone India that his gig was going to be all about the hits that people will recognize. “But my job really is not to try and reproduce the recording at all, we have much more of a jazz sensibility, and that you’ll recognize the head of the song. But every night I’m searching for something that I haven’t found before, I haven’t discovered before. I’m led by my curiosity,” he says.

The 72-year-old Gordon Sumner – celebrated musician, actor (on stage and in front of cameras) and activist, among other things – is erudite, cheeky and frank in his responses about everything involving his craft. He even goes on to say that each night’s show “can go into a disaster or go to a triumph.” He adds, “I hope it’s a triumph tonight.”

A triumph it was, by most estimates, especially for a veteran artist who was headlining a recently established multi-genre music festival that had previously brought down acts like Imagine Dragons and The Strokes in their first edition in 2023. Sting has been in music for more than 50 years, unlike any of last year’s international draws. Even at Lollapalooza India 2024, he was there amongst pop stars Halsey and The Jonas Brothers (who were reportedly catching Sting from stage-side).