Why Sting Had Doubts About Appearing On 'The Voice': 'I Was Wary'

When Sting was first approached that he would be a mega mentor in this season The Voicehe had his doubts.

“I was wary, to be honest,” he says on the set of the Universal Studios NBC series. “The premise of the show is scary to me, that kind of competition. I think art and music aren't really competitions. If you win the US Open, you are the best player at that moment. But the song is different. Everyone's voice is unique.”

Turns out he was more than happy to say yes. Sting, who acts as a mega mentor to Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dogg's teams during the Knockout rounds that aired on Monday (November 11), found the experience to be great.

The former teacher found the contestants needed very little teaching. “I'm still a music student, but I've been doing it for a long time, so I can give them a little hint,” he says, “but the level of singing is so high, you can't say anything. . They know how to sing. There are little bits of presentation or attitude or the way you present yourself that I can probably help you with, but technically, they're great singers.”

However, the experience was rewarding. “It was very nourishing to see a little piece of advice given to you and then their next step, to act on it, and the whole thing comes out,” she says.

As for the best advice he ever got from a mentor it came from his dad and it was clear he took it to heart. “He said go to the sea. See the world. Make something of yourself,” he says. “Basically, you're taking a chance.”

Sting was already friends with Stefani and Snoop Dogg before the taping. He and Stefani first met when she was 13 and she approached him as a fan. They then reunited when No Doubt and Sting's group (both solo and as a member of The Police) were on A&M Records, including playing the Super Bowl halftime show together in 2003.

“I've been impressed by how concise she is in her comments about artists, how compassionate she is, and her wisdom,” he says of Stefani's coaching technique. “She is a very clever lady, and not hard to see, too!”

As for his other trainer, Sting shows up MissionarySnoop Dogg's first new solo album since 2022 is out in December. Snoop and Dr. Dre, who produced the set, asked Sting to play a song from his past.

“Dre and Snoop sent me a version of it [the Police’s 1979 hit] “Message in a bottle” and it made a big impression on me. Honestly, it was great,” he says. “It's a renaissance of the song, if you will. I played guitar on it. I sang a verse, but to sing a verse that would match what they had done, I had to up my game, sing in a way that I don't usually sing in a rhythmic way. It was challenging, but very, very rewarding. It's a great version of the song.”

Reba McEntire, who is in her second year as a coach, started out as a mentor, but Sting is quick to deny that his progression to that status is his endgame. (Jennifer Hudson serves as a mega-mentor to McEntire and fourth coach Michael Bublé.) “I'm not a judge, I'm still a student,” she says. Plus, as he notes, “I have another job, and that other job seems to be going really, really well.” Indeed, the day after Sting appears The Voicehis stripped-down Sting 3.0 tour will kick off a five-date run in Los Angeles. The exit is completed in Sweden in July.