I must admit I’ve been living under a stone as far as Sting & Shaggy getting together is concerned.
In the old days of 4 tv channels, the top 40 and buying a daily paper, there wasn’t much culturally that went on that I wasn’t aware of.
But today things are more fragmented, I have a busy lifestyle so I tend to watch Netflix and Amazon rather than broadcast TV, and I get most of the news I need from social media and the odd glance at The Guardian and Independent online.
The first I was aware of Sting & Shaggy joining up was this week, and looking at my news feed, I’m not the only one, despite the fact they have been making a splash by all accounts:
“Following last night’s GRAMMY’s, where Sting & Shaggy were awarded Best Reggae Album for their collaborative UK Top Ten hit record 44/876, the pair have announced their return to the UK with The 44/876 Tour.
A series of intimate and exclusive shows will begin at London’s Camden Roundhouse this May 19th with additional dates in Newcastle, Birmingham and Manchester. Tickets are on sale from Friday, February 15th at 9am at www.livenation.co.uk and www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
2018 saw Sting & Shaggy bring The 44/876 Tour to North America, South America and Eastern Europe. Hailed “one of the most anticipated concerts of the year” and “a reggae rock dance party that never lets up,” the show sees the pair collaborating on each other’s most celebrated hits such as “Every Breath You Take,” “Englishman In New York,” “Message In A Bottle,” “It Wasn’t Me,” “Mr. Boombastic” and “Angel”, as well as new hits from 44/876, which has just been awarded the 2019 GRAMMY for Best Reggae Album. Watch highlights here – https://bit.ly/2wKCvC6.
In Spring of 2018, Sting & Shaggy made UK headlines with a memorable performance of ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’ at Queen Elizabeth’s 92nd birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall. The track also featured on their collaborative Top Ten album release, dubbed “fantastically catchy” with “songs strong enough to fit anywhere into Sting’s impressive canon” in The Telegraph’s four-star review, and “a fine bromance” by The Guardian. The pair also performed the track live on BBC’s The One Show”
When I first heard about their collaboration, I thought one was supporting the other, and it already seemed an odd collaboration, but then I realised they are performing together.
There have of course been unusual pairings in the past.
When they announced that Nick Cave was to do a duet with Kylie, it sounded like the maddest thing ever! Kylie at the time was known for lightweight, over-optimistic pop songs like “I should be so lucky” and “The Locomotion” whilst Nick Cave was known better for dark songs about death and despondency. And yet, mad as the concept sounded, it worked in practice.
Sting is often considered as taking himself too seriously, whilst Shaggy is very tongue-in-cheek, particularly on songs such as Boombastic and “It wasn’t me”.
Does it work? See what you think!
STING & SHAGGY’S 44/876 2019 U.K. TOUR DATES:
19 May 2019 London, U.K. Roundhouse
22 May 2019 Newcastle, U.K. O2 Academy Newcastle
24 May 2019 Birmingham, U.K. O2 Academy Birmingham
25 May 2019 Manchester, U.K. O2 Apollo Manchester
Tickets for Sting & Shaggy’s 44/876 UK Tour go on-sale to the general public on Friday 15 February 2019 at 9am at https://www.livenation.co.uk.
European Tour Acclaim
”The Police frontman and the Jamaican hitmaker together for an irresistible sold out concert” – Rolling Stone Italy (Verona, Italy)
“It should be noted that the mix of some of their pieces is just awesome. The mix is perfect. For example, there will be a mixture of Roxanne and Boombastic just explosive.” – Concert and Co. (Nîmes, France)
“Top of the league, exciting experiments, not a minute of boredom.” – Reutlinger General-Anzeiger (Salem, Germany)
