Sting has made it clear that he does not think grown men should play in bands and has pointed to the Rolling Stones and AC/DC as examples as to why.
The former Police frontman made the comments during an interview with MOJO while discussing the struggles of finding growth in a music scene defined by veteran bands.
"I don't think any grown man can be in a band, actually," Sting said, according to Tone Deaf. "A band is a teenage gang. Who wants to be in a teenage gang when you're knocking 70? It doesn't allow you to evolve."
He continued: "You have to obey the rules and the gestalt of the band. As much as I love the Stones and AC/DC, it's hard to see growth in their music.
"For me, the band was merely a vehicle for the songs and not the other way round."
Sting fronted The Police from 1977 to 1983, when he was 26, until he was 32. In 1985 he released his first solo album, "The Dream Of The Blue Turtles." The album was met with rave reviews, however if it had not been successful, Sting said he hoped he would not have to return to the band.
"Both Andy [Summers] and Stewart [Copeland] had made albums without me, so it was my right, too," he explained. "I recruited a band from the jazz world and I was lucky it was a hit. I have no idea what would have happened if it hadn't been a hit."
He added: "Would I have gone back to the band and eaten humble pie? I hope not."
In 2007, Sting reunited with Summers and Copeland and embarked on a global tour the year after. However, years later he admitted in an interview with Reader's Digest that it was not what he had hoped it would be.
"At the time, I labeled the tour an exercise in nostalgia. That was simply how I felt and is still how I feel today," he said, according to NME. "I think it's OK to be honest about your feelings and that was the way it went for me."
He continued: "That's not a slight on the people I was with or the way things panned out, it's just how I saw it by the end, and let's be honest, that's not how I wanted to remember it.
"If I thought that would be the emotion I'd be leaving with, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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