There’s an old adage in showbiz that you should always leave the audience wanting more. The Police took that to an extreme when the group decided to call it a day following their most successful album, one that made them the biggest band in the world at the time.
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Why did they make the decision? And what happened when they attempted to come back together a few years later, only for it to fall apart all over again? Here’s how The Police called it a day while still on top of the rock and roll world.
A Powerful Trio
The Police didn’t quite fit any of the genres that were prevailing in music at the time when they released their first major-label singles and debut album in 1978. They were too musically accomplished for punk and too knotty for new wave.
Maybe it was the otherness that did it, because the single “Roxanne” broke through on both sides of the Atlantic, fitting for a trio comprised of two Brits (Sting and Andy Summers) and one American (Stewart Copeland). From that point, the band’s level of commercial success and critical love grew with each subsequent release.
In 1983, they released Synchronicity, their fifth album, and it went nuclear. Lead single “Every Breath You Take” was a worldwide No. 1, the album also topped the charts, and a tour supporting the record was a massive success. And that was the last studio album the band ever released.
Behind the Scenes Turmoil
Unlike so many other bands, the three men who made up The Police hardly knew each other when they formed. As such, the deep bonds weren’t there, and it soon became clear the three men didn’t always have much of a personal connection. While their arguments often drove the music to higher places, it didn’t bode well for longevity.
One major sticking point: Stewart Copeland had essentially founded the band, but Sting, as lead singer and chief songwriter, eventually gained more sway over its artistic direction. Things got so bad that even Synchronicity almost didn’t happen. A meeting had to be held to decide a few weeks into the fractious sessions about whether they should even continue.
What’s interesting is many people now consider the conclusion of the Synchronicity tour to be the time of the band’s breakup. Sting did his solo debut Dream of the Blue Turtles in 1985, which furthers that notion. But the actual plan was for the band to get back together and resume their career. It didn’t go well.
One Song and Then Goodbye
The band played three well-received live shows in June 1986 to benefit Amnesty International, and then got back together the next month with the intent of making another album. But the bad blood between the three men soon resurfaced. To make matters worse, Copeland broke his collarbone following an accident while riding a horse, scuppering the sessions completely.
In the end, the band released a reworked version of their 1980 hit “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” to round out a greatest hits compilation. Although there was no big announcement, the three men went their separate ways, and there was little doubt that The Police as a recording outfit were kaput.
At the very least, the three men reunited for a well-received, extremely lucrative tour in 2007 and 2008. This time around, they did indeed announce they were shuttering for good at the end of that jaunt. For a second time, The Police managed to leave on top, a feat that no other rock act has ever been able to match in quite the same way.
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