Stewart Copeland: "Sting is a Sphinx"  7/13/07

The Police drummer Stewart Copeland barely knows Sting, despite being friends with the singer for 30 years.

Copeland formed the Every Breath You Take band in 1977 with Sting and original guitarist Henry Padovani, who was soon replaced by current strummer Andy Summers.

When The Police reformed this year (07), 23 years after their split, the trio gathered at Sting's Italian home in Il Palagia to practice and get to know each other again.

Copeland says, "Those evenings were great. After 30 years, I hardly know Sting really. He's a sphinx. But to see him with Andy, the juices flowing, this torrent of visceral musicality.

"It's inspiring to hear that coming out of Sting, undisciplined, unthinking..."