Broken Music: A Memoir

Exceptionally well written, A+. I had hoped to learn Sting's music background, choices, & influences. Why the bass, how did he develop his unique singing voice, and above all, where did the reggae come from? Instead, this memoir is about the network of people and relationships in his life. Told with panache, heart, and honesty. It was a genuine treat to hang w/ Sting for this read. I also appreciated the odd Easter egg.

Born to working class parents in the English port town of Wallsend, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was a smart, quiet boy with good grades who would become a teacher, get married and have a couple of children. This is the person we don’t know. The person we do know is a Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor and philanthropist – who’s stage name is Sting.


Broken Music is Sting’s autobiography of his life leading up to the moment of his first real commercial success with The Police in 1978. The book takes us through the loneliness of his youth, the contentious marriage of his parents and the failings of his relationships. Sting is very open about his upbringing as well as his shortcomings, show more including his propensity to be seen as arrogant. It is a charge he doesn’t try very hard to dispute. What does become apparent is how his upbringing and experiences shaped not just his life, but his music as well. Success was not the product of overwhelming talent, but rather single-minded, dogged determination. And while he was never the best pure musician, Sting’s strength was in storytelling and performance. This probably forms from his love of literature.

“For to sit in a room full of books, and remember the stories they told you, and to know precisely where each one is located and what was happening in your life at time or where you were when you first read it is the languid and distilled pleasure of the connoisseur.”

I found Sting’s story very interesting in and of itself. The writing is solid, if not great. There are also a lot of distractive asides and jumps back and forth in time that make it difficult to follow the narrative. However, the biggest letdown is the incomplete nature of the autobiography. While Sting wrote Broken Music in 2003, he essentially ends the narrative at the end of the 1970’s just as The Police were hitting it big. Knowing that there are so many fascinating parts of his life left unmentioned – his break with the Police, his role in the movie Dune, his solo career, the 9/11 concert in Tuscany, and many more – it is a letdown to not get to experience his personal take on these watershed moments in his life.

So while I enjoyed what I did get to read in Broken Music, I was disappointed in what I didn’t get to read. It is a good, but incomplete look at a fascinating individual in popular culture. I just wish there could have been more. show less

I recently got into the music of The Police, so I was curious about the band, and also about Sting's acting (Dune, Quadrophenia, etc.) Even though Broken Music is about Sting's life leading up to the band's huge success, the book gave me the insight that I was looking for.

Sting has a truly mesmerizing way with words that pulled me through the book faster than I expected. He grabbed my attention with the opening, but then things slowed down during his initial recollections of his very early years. In the end, this helped to explain the path that he took in life and sheds some light on his public persona. He also describes his early musical background as a jazz cat, which helps to explain the direction that he took after leaving The show more Police.

I found surprising humor in Sting's perspective and in the way that he sort of pokes fun of the absurdities of life. His memoir is tragic at times, but rather revealing and honest.

Now, if only The Police's founder and brilliant drummer Stewart Copeland would write a book! He does write a few things at stewartcopeland.net but it would be great to hear about his early years. show less

I was a Police fan as a kid so this was a fun biographical read especially when Sting meets Stewart, I found his description of that time in his past hilarious.

Informative and well written, Sting is frank and surprisingly open about his relationships, friendships and career from his early life through to the beginning of the Police.

I really enjoyed learning about the experiences that made Sting the performer and man he is today. A very interesting person and some moving moments in the book.

As a long time fan I found this a great read! I rarely get into books unless I'm really interested in the subject and the way it is written. I was hooked and it didn't take me long to finish it which, in itself, is a miracle!! It covers the early years - there is so much more to come in Sting's life and I wished I could have kept reading more! Wonder if Sting will write more later. An amazingly talented guy. One of the best concerts I ever attended - the Police, Live in Edinburgh on or near New Year's eve in the 80's!!