Quote Of The Day By Sting: 'Owning A Vineyard Was Never On The Cards ...'

Sting grew up in Wallsend, England, where a local shipyard supported much of his hometown's economy. The people there were blue-collar — working themselves to the bone in a dangerous environment, day in and day out — and Sting knew from a fairly young age that such a life wasn't for him. So, he worked hard to escape that fate.

Having picked up the guitar just after turning double digits, Sting was meant for music. Originally born Gordon Sumner, he got the name "Sting" during his early years of playing in rock bands — thanks to a favorite black-and-yellow sweater – and music is what brought him to fame. However, that fame came after Sting went to college and spent two years teaching at St. Paul's Catholic School. It was a noble venture; just not one that would land him in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The future rock legend played in several bands before he formed the Police with Stewart Copeland and Henri Padovani in 1977, and Andy Summers soon stepped into Padovani's shoes. The band struggled at first but eventually reached worldwide fame, and Sting would remain an active member of the Police until they broke up in 1984. Sting's solo career started the following year and was nearly as lucrative. Over Sting's combined solo projects and time with the Police, he's sold more than 100 million records, won 17 Grammys, and created the musical "The Last Ship." Because of Sting's rise from blue-collar beginnings to these absolute peaks of rock stardom, today's quote of the day is his.

"Owning a vineyard was never on the cards. But it's remarkable to look out at those fields and think we're going to drink that one day."

This quote comes from a 2025 Financial Times interview with Sting at Il Palagio, Sting and wife Trudie Styler's home and vineyard outside of Figline Valdarno in Tuscany. It's a beautiful piece of hilly Italy that operates as a part-time home, venue, and business, producing wine and olive oil, among other things. And it's an important part of why this Sting quote is so powerful.

In the end, these words are for anyone trying to build a destiny for themselves, defying the one forced on them by the conditions of their birth — be it poverty, lack of opportunities, or simply a scarcity of interesting experiences.

Sting's words speak to escaping one's roots and forging a new destiny. It shows how Sting came from humble beginnings, though they may have taught him much, and made a new path for himself.

Sting's current life differs vastly from the one that could've been if he'd settled for a more mundane plan. Like many from where he grew up, it would've been easy to resign himself to sticking around his hometown and breaking his body like the rest of the shipwrights. Sitting with the serenity of Il Palagio instead of the ruckus of the shipyard, drinking wine in the sun instead of beer in the pub, and being one of the most lucrative rock stars in history is a fate he worked hard for. It must've seemed an impossible destination to a young Gordon Sumner.

Even for much of Sting's rock career, settling down at a private vineyard probably never crossed his mind. Now, he has the opportunity to relax — though with his "The Last Ship" touring, it's unlikely he will — and grow grapes and olives for his wines and oils. A hard leap from Wallsend.

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• "If anything, I think, the acceptance of death gives you more of a stake in life, in living life happily, as it should be lived. Living for the moment."

• "One of the rewards of success is freedom, the ability to do whatever you like."

• "I think love has something to do with allowing a person you claim to love to enter a larger arena than the one you create for them."

• "I hate most of what constitutes rock music — which is basically middle-aged crap."