When Sting uttered these words last night on stage at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles, fans around the world were granted the wish they had harboured for almost 23 years...

When Sting uttered these words last night on stage at the Grammy awards in Los Angeles, fans around the world were granted the wish they had harboured for almost 23 years. There they were Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers, sounding great, looking terrific, clearly enjoying themselves and ready to show the world what it had been missing.

Following that short and snappy - but oh so sweet - announcement, The Police launched into a dymanic version of 'Roxanne' as they opened the 49th Annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles' Staples Centre in front of a packed auditorium of 12,000. The standing ovation they received was testament to the huge regard the band are still held in, and actor Jamie Foxx led the audience as he stepped out to present the first award of the night saying ""Keep it going, keep it going for The Police now. Come on and get with it and make some noise."

Although the performance itself may have been over within a far too brief four minutes, it signalled today's announcement by the band at the Whisky A Go Go of their intention to embark on a world-wide tour starting in Vancouver on May 28, a tour that will take in arenas and stadiums across North American this summer before arriving in Europe in the autumn.

The Los Angeles Times reported: "'Roxanne', the lady of the evening the trio serenaded in their first hit in 1979, long ago passed the point of needing to be advised "you don't have to put on the red light." But that didn't dim the 12,000-strong Staples Center crowd's ovation for the olive-branch performance of the pulsing number, one that was full of smiles from the once-feuding Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported: "Rock trio the Police played their first major public show in more than 20 years, when they opened the Grammy Awards ceremony, whetting fans' appetite for an expected world tour. Frontman Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland dusted off a jazzy version of their breakthrough hit 'Roxanne' for an audience of about 12,000 at the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles."

The Contra Cost Times reported: "No one on planet Earth, except for maybe the Dixie Chicks, was happier than Stewart Copeland on Sunday night. And it showed. It was probably no accident that the first close-up of the Grammys Sunday night featured Copeland pounding out the beginning of 'Roxanne', the smile on his face as wide as could be. The drummer of the newly reunited Police has been waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for Sting to get done making adult contemporary music, saving the rain forests and doing whatever it is that Sting does (we've been barred by our bosses from using the word "tantric" anywhere in this story) and get back to Police business. The business that made them all famous. And that's what the Police - Sting, Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers - did Sunday night at the Grammys, and, though painfully short, it worked beautifully. On the eve of launching a tour tied to the 30th anniversary of their hit 'Roxanne', they opened the 49th annual Grammys in Los Angeles by playing a solid version of, of course, 'Roxanne'.

Let the fun begin!

Other Recent items