• Writer: Sting
• Producers: The Police
• Recorded: Early 1978, Surrey Sound Studios, England
• Released: April 1979
• Players:
  Sting — vocals, bass
  Andy Summers — guitar
  Stewart Copeland — drums
• Album: Outlandos D’Amour (A&M, 1978)
• Also On:
  The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball (Rhino, 1982) (Sting)
  Every Breath You Take: The Singles (A&M, 1986)
  Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings (A&M, 1993)
  Live (A&M, 1995)
  and other live albums and compilations
• The U.S. got its first glimpse of the Police in a Wrigley’s Chewing Gum commercial in February 1978, for which the group bleached their hair blonde. The blonde tresses got the more pop-oriented band mistaken as part of the punk explosion.
• The reggae-tinged “Roxanne,” singer-bassist Sting‘s ode to a prostitute, was first released in the U.K. in April 1978. It failed to chart.
• It wasn’t until the full album’s release five months later that the song began to garner any real notice, eventually peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at Number 32.
• “Roxanne” was featured in the 1982 movie 48 Hrs. when Eddie Murphy loudly squawked the chorus while listening to the song on his Walkman in his jail cell.

FAST FORWARD:

• The Police broke up in 1984, with all three members pursuing solo careers.
• The group reunited in June 1986 to play shows on the Amnesty International “Conspiracy Of Hope” tour.
• Of the three members, Sting’s solo career has been the most successful. He’s also pursued acting, with several film roles and live theater performances.
• Sting is involved with benefits for human rights, Amnesty International, and rain forest preservation. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has named Sting a CBE, or Commander Of The British Empire, an honorary title that ranks just below knight.
• Sting has guested on some recordings by guitarist Andy Summers, who has concentrated primarily on jazz and classical music since the Police broke up.
• Besides his work with the Police, the jazz-fusion group Animal Logic, and the jam band Oysterhead, drummer Stewart Copeland is well known in the industry as a film composer, having worked on movies including Wall Street and 9-1/2 Weeks.
• The Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
• The band reunited in 2007 and is now on a tour, which is scheduled to end this summer with the band’s final concerts ever.