Stings and hair
The Grammy-winning musicians are chatting with Melissa Ruggieri and Shaggy Chat of USA Today ahead of one fantastic day music festival about their friendship.
Sitting on the other side of the plain, wooden tables, stabs and hairy hairs are not normal.
Their 20-year friendship, although not superficially likely, is musically very fitting with the police, produced a joint tour, a Grammy-winning album (“44/876”), a curated festival, and a well-known volley of the Zinger.
Ask what they appreciate most about each other, Sting, 73, land first.
“Oh, where should I start?” he muse. “Now count the ways.”
Shaggy, 56, jumps in with a checklist of mutual benefits. They are both LIBRAS. They share a sense of affinity with Monkey 47 Jin. They worship Bill Withers.
“We’re both obsessed with music and we love the surprise element,” says Shaggy. “What’s very unique is that we have different processes in the ways we achieve… I’m fascinated by his process and I think he’s fascinated by mine.”
Cues a quisical look from the stab wound.
“Do you have a process?” He is dead.
Many laughs were shared in July as a pair chat in the Czech Republic, playing (separately) in the colours of the Ostrava Festival.
They will once again unite for one Fine Day Festival, a two-stage all-day event curated and headlined by The Twosome. Participating in the September 6th production at Mann at Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is an eclectic lineup featuring the original Wailers featuring All, Marcia Griffith, Chance Emerson, Al Anderson, Big FreeDia and Sophie Gray.
This is the second article on one sunny day. Named after Sting’s song about the 57 climate crisisth &9th“Album – They also performed in Philadelphia in 2023. The festival is also a charity partner at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
For both artists, the surprise element is essential to the festival and explodes together.
There are details from the duo about their mutual admiration society, Sting’s “fragile” patience, and why Shaggy loves to hear his music played by Symphony.
Question: What do you appreciate for playing together?
Sting: I love his spontaneity. Shaggy is a very spontaneous performer and creator. I’m more hidden in my books.
Shaggy: People expect him to become this really straight guy and he’s very funny. We play with each other. we Like It feels good with each other.
Who takes time to prepare to go to the stage?
Sting: He’s in so much waste. Because I’m perfect lol. I wear the same t-shirt every night because that shirt knows all the songs. I’m not going to give up on that. (See Shaggy) You have different flocks and gems every night… It’s like going to the stage with the Queen of England, God will rest her soul.
Shaggy: Don’t be fooled by him. He has clothes, they’re all in the same t-shirt lol.
What are your favorite songs?
Sting: I’m Shaggy’s great moral play “It wasn’t me.”
Shaggy: That’s when he gets into the story of the teacher at that school! But for me it’s a “field of gold.” It’s an incredible melody. Songs are recorded in a specific mood. There are some songs you’ve heard, some songs you feel, and that’s what I feel.
Who wants to curate the lineup and bring in fans at the festival?
Sting: We want to surprise people. When we did it in Philadelphia two years ago, he and I introduced us to all the deeds and walked the audience from stage to stage. We really curated the mood. We weren’t sitting in the dressing room waiting for a second. We will be elegant hosts.
Creating a festival is not easy. Why do you do that in the first place?
Shaggy: It’s cool to do that in a place where you’re hanging with your mates. I did it in Jamaica with Shaggy and a friend, so I know how difficult it is. But if you’re going to do it, then have a partnership with Live Nation because this is what they’re doing. It’s different in the US with laws, regulations and permits and deals with all of that.
Sting: We realised that the market has a niche that we can meet in Philadelphia, a great musical town that is a fantastic audience.
And will you share the stage again?
Shaggy: We have two bands together.
Sting: We usually start with “New York Jamaicans.” This was a “New York British,” but now we’re out of the way. But I don’t care.
Shaggy: I’ve been enjoying it lately, saying, “It’s probably me.”
Sting: Written it for Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in the “Deadly Weapons” movie. I’m Danny Glover from this relationship.
Sting, “Fragile” has recently attracted attention for being used in “Adolescence” (Netflix series), and has duets with Barbra Streisand on her new album. How about that song?
Sting: Writing standards has always been my ambition. It is a song that survives the challenges of the times, a song covered by other artists, and I think that “fragile” has achieved that state over the years. It’s a very old song (from the 1987 “Nothing Like The Sun” album). That has many meanings. What are you singing? relationship? Planetary vulnerability? Of our democracy? Our ecosystem? They’re all caught up in one. And I love the Barbra version.
Did you record it in your room with her?
Sting: Yes! There I am on one side of the microphone, one of the greatest singers of our time standing a few feet away from me. That’s something you don’t take for granted.
Shaggy, you performed with symphonies in Pittsburgh, Houston and San Diego. How do you feel when you hear your song presented so differently?
Shaggy: The first time I saw (modern music with Symphony) was when Sting did it (2010 Symphony Tour). It sounded so great, I thought I was going to. For artists who have been doing this for almost 30 years, you are looking for different ways to get inspiration and I have not been alienating these things. Sting recently made him sing Frank Sinatra in reggae. Who came to do that to me?
Sting: Guilty!
