Stewart Copeland

Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician. He was the drummer for the band The Police and is an influential drum stylist. Since the group's breakup he has played in other bands and composed soundtracks.

Background

Copeland was born in Alexandria, Virginia ^*, the youngest of four children of CIA agent Miles Copeland, Jr. and Scottish Lorraine Adie, who was in British intelligence.

The family moved to Cairo, Egypt a few months after his birth, and Copeland spent his formative years in the Middle East. He attended the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon, where he played drums at school dances, before moving to England and attending Millfield from 1967-1969. Copeland went to college in California, attending California Western University and UC Berkeley. He returned to England in 1975, playing drums for the progressive rock band Curved Air.

Drumming

Copeland is known for a blend of precise, energetic, and creative rock drumming along with a reggae influenced style. His distinctive sound centers on a hard, high-pitched crack on a snare drum or rimshot, subtle hi-hat work with understated flourishes, while often playing only hi-hat with bass drum. Copeland's distinct use of a polyrhythmic approach solidifies his stance as an important drummer, subsequently influencing generations of drummers. His credit on Curved Air's Air Cut album was "Heavy Artillery" rather than "drums."

Copeland is also noted for his heavy emphasis on the groove as a complement to the song, rather than displays of technical prowess. He once drove this point home at a drum clinic: Copeland announced that he would show the audience something "that very few modern drummers can do," and proceeded to play a simple rock beat for two minutes. Nonetheless, his playing often incorporates spectacular fills and subtle inflections which greatly augment the groove.

The Police

In 1977, Copeland founded the Police with singer/bassist Sting and guitarist Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers), which became one of the top bands of the 1980s.

Frequently cited recordings with the Police include:

Outlandos d'Amour: "So Lonely," "Roxanne," "Can't Stand Losing You"
Regatta de Blanc: "Message in a Bottle," "Walking on the Moon," "The Bed's Too Big Without You"
Zenyatta Mondatta: "Driven to Tears," "Don't Stand So Close to Me,", "Man in a Suitcase"
Ghost in the Machine: "Invisible Sun," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
Synchronicity: "Synchronicity I," "King of Pain," "Wrapped around Your Finger," "Every Breath You Take," "Synchronicity II"

Copeland also recorded under the pseudonym Klark Kent, releasing several UK singles in 1978 with one ("Don't Care") entering the UK singles chart that year, along with an eponymously titled 10-inch album on green vinyl released in 1980. He also released The Rhythmatist in 1985, the result of a pilgrimage to Africa.

Later career

After The Police stopped touring in 1984, Copeland established a career composing soundtracks for movies (Talk Radio, Wall Street, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Highlander 2, The Leopard Son), television (The Equalizer, Dead Like Me), and video games (Spyro the Dragon), along with operas (Holy Blood and Crescent Moon) and ballets. In 1983, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his scoring of Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish.

In 1989, Copeland formed Animal Logic with jazz bassist Stanley Clarke and singer songwriter Deborah Holland. The trio had success with their first album and world tour but the follow up sold poorly, and the band did not continue.

Copeland has occasionally played drums for other artists including Peter Gabriel. In 2000, he joined with Les Claypool of Primus and Trey Anastasio of Phish to create the jam band Oysterhead. In 2002, Copeland was hired by Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger of The Doors to play on a new album and tour, but after an injury sidelined Copeland, the arrangement ended in mutual lawsuits. In 2005, Copeland started Gizmo, a new project with avant-garde guitarist David Fiuczynski.

In January 2006, Copeland premiered his film about the Police called Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out at the Sundance Film Festival. In February and March, he appeared as one of the judges on the BBC television show 'Just the Two of Us'.

Personal

Copeland married Curved Air vocalist Sonja Kristina, and they had four sons together before divorcing in the early 1990s. Copeland currently lives in Los Angeles with his second wife, Fiona, with whom he has three more children.

Stewart's oldest brother Miles Copeland III, founder of I.R.S. Records, was manager of the Police and has overseen Stewart's interests in other music projects. Stewart's other brother, the now deceased Ian Copeland, was a pioneering booking agent who represented the Police, amongst many others.

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