80s rock star announces extremely unexpected musical collaboration with Snoop Dogg-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

A top tier British singer-songwriter has reinterpreted one of his best known tunes with US rapper Snoop Dogg (Picture: Dave Hogan/Shutterstock)

One of the UK’s most successful singers of the 1980s (and beyond) has revealed that a surprise collaboration is already recorded with US rap star Snoop Dogg.

Sting – who started out with The Police as the new waveband’s frontman in 1977 before embarking on a huge solo career from 1985 – shared the news of their team-up during BBC Radio 2’s In The Park event on Saturday.

The chart-topper was headlining the stage in Preston’s Moor Park, where he treated fans to renditions of some of his most famous hits across the years, including Englishman in New York, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic and Fields of Gold.

Ahead of his performance in the evening, which he kicked off with Message In A Bottle, the Roxanne star spoke with the radio station and said that he and Snoop Dogg, 52, had a new version of the song in the can.

Of the reworked version of The Police hit song that Snoop has remixed, set for release in November, the 72-year-old explained: ‘Me and Snoop made a recording of Message In A Bottle, which he’s called something else.’

‘I played the guitar and I sang on it, but Snoop also sings on this, which is quite a revelation to me,’ he added, as well as sharing his view that the US star was ‘a very nice man’.

Sting, who headlined Radio 2 In The Park on Saturday, revealed the collaboration (Picture: Katja Ogrin/Redferns)

Rapper Snoop will actually sing on the new version of The Police’s hit Message In A Bottle (Picture: Getty)

Rock star Sting also sings and plays on the new release, expected in November (Picture: Katja Ogrin/Redferns)

Snoop, known for tracks including his debut Who Am I? (What’s My Name) and Drop It Like It’s Hot, also has multiple big collaborations to his name already, like Beautiful with Pharrell Williams and Katy Perry’s California Gurls.

And that’s just on the music front, with the Young, Wild, and Free rapper having recently pulled a shift as a special US correspondent for NBC during the Paris 2024 Olympics.

He’s also acted, been involved with WWE wrestling, hosted a game show, launched a wine as part of his brand and penned a cookbook – after appearing on a cooking show called Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party, with celebrity chef and long-time pal Martha Stewart.

So reworking the classic 1979 hit song from The Police will have been all in a day’s work for the multi-hyphenate, real name Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr.

The two music acts have met before (pictured together in 2018), with Sting calling Snoop ‘a very nice man’ (Picture: Getty)

On Saturday, Sting also said he had ‘a feeling’ he would have a ‘prolonged career’ when starting out with The Police.

He revealed that his career aim had always been to write ‘a standard’ and he wanted to get into the position where ‘people just keep performing your songs forever’ – so this latest collaboration certainly ticks that box.

‘Somehow we had the confidence that we would, but I’ve no idea where that came from,’ Sting admitted when asked about the lengthy musical success he has since enjoyed.

‘It wasn’t based on any logic or any research. It just was a feeling.’

He added: ‘My ambition always is to write a song that could become a standard, you know.

‘Standards really were written in the 40s and 50s, so we as songwriters, modern songwriters, try and get into that position where people just keep performing your songs forever, like My Way.

‘Isn’t that a great song? I want to write songs like that.’

The rocker, born Gordon Sumner, claimed that he also never ‘got bored’ of touring as he enjoyed playing popular songs of his from over the past several decades.

The Wallsend-born singer shared: ‘I like playing hits, I really do, but you know, it’s my job to sing a song I might have written 40 years ago with the same passion, the same curiosity, the same energy as if I’d written it this afternoon – that’s my job.

Roxanne hitmaker Sting has said he ‘had a feeling’ he would have a long musical career (Picture: Fin Costello/Redferns)

He also claims he never gets bored of playing some of his biggest hits, including Police songs (pictured with bandmates Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers in 1979) (Picture: Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)

‘I always manage to find some little incremental change that I haven’t explored before, discovered before that keeps me interested.’

‘That’s my quest, so you might hear something tonight, might be a mistake,’ he added.

Sting is one of the world’s best-selling music artists, having shifted over 100 million records as a solo star and as a member of The Police.

He has also won 17 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four Oscar nominations for best original song.

In 2019, he received a BMI Award for Every Breath You Take becoming the most-played song in radio history.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

Entertainment – MetroRead More