BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- British rock star Sting said contemporary rock music is so stagnant that he prefers to sing 16th-century English ballads.
The former teacher who shot to fame as lead singer, bassist and composer in the 1970s and '80s for The Police told German newspaper Die Zeit that he prefers singing songs of Elizabethan lutenist and composer John Dowland to the rock music of today.
Rock music has come to a standstill, it's not going forward anymore, it only bores me, Die Zeit quoted Sting as saying.
The 55-year-old singer, whose birth name is Gordon Sumner, had a string of hits with The Police with songs like Roxanne and Don't Stand So Close To Me. He has since also had a lucrative solo career with songs like Englishman in New York. He recently appeared on NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing a version of his Fields of Gold on the lute.
Forty years ago it was my dream to break out of Newcastle and never be poor again, he told the magazine.
I'm very privileged. I'm a successful musician, live in a beautiful house, and have a wonderful family.
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