Sting reveals how he enjoys coming back to the North East

Oct 19 2009 by Kim Carmichael, The Journal

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TYNESIDE-BORN superstar Sting yesterday spoke of how he is “just Gordon from Wallsend” when he returns to the region.

Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, revealed that despite owning property in Wiltshire, Tuscany, Malibu and New York, he still enjoys the chance to come back to the North East.

The former frontman of The Police, said he was delighted to return to the region for his longest visit in three decades to play his new album, If On a Winter’s Night, to specially-invited audiences at Durham Cathedral.

“When I sing in the North East I have no mystique. People know where I’ve come from. To them I’m just Gordon from Wallsend,” said the 58-year-old.

“My brother and sister still live here. My brother delivers the milk like my dad did and my sister runs Newcastle airport.

“You have to deal with the ghosts of your past, and there are plenty of ghosts here for me. A lot of friends who are musicians have passed on. I lost my parents here. So when I flew into the airport it was a very bittersweet return.”

Having grown up in North Tyneside as the oldest of four children of a milkman, the singer-songwriter and actor has rarely returned since leaving in the 1970s.

Performing his new album at Durham Cathedral last month saw the rocker also make the most of the few weeks he spent in his former hometown by visiting some landmarks of his past.