Stewart Armstrong Copeland
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Stewart Copeland is the American drummer and co-founder of The Police, a band that produced five #1 UK singles between 1979 and 1983. He also composed film scores for Rumble Fish 1983 and Highlander II: The Quickening 1991, and voiced American Soldier #1 in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 1999. Copeland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 as a member of The Police.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Stewart Copeland — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Stewart Copeland by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Stewart Copeland — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Stewart Armstrong Copeland was born on July 16, 1952 in Alexandria, Virginia, to Miles Copeland, a former trumpeter in Glenn Miller’s Air Force Band and a founding CIA agent, and Lorraine Copeland, an archaeologist. Because of his father’s CIA career, Stewart lived in Egypt and Lebanon as a child, where he became fluent in Arabic. He attended the American Community School at Beirut.
Copeland co-founded The Police in 1977 with Sting, and the band released their debut album Outlandos d’Amour in 1978. Their sophomore album Regatta de Blanc 1979 featured hits like Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon, and Copeland considers it the band’s best work. The Police achieved five #1 singles in the UK before breaking up in 1986. Outside The Police, Copeland composed scores for Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish 1983 and Highlander II: The Quickening 1991. He also voiced American Soldier #1 in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 1999.
Copeland has been married to Fiona Dent since 1993, with whom he has three daughters: Eve, Grace, and Celeste. He was previously married to Sonja Kristina from 1982 to 1991, and they had three sons: Sven, Jordan, and Scott. He also has a son named Patrick Copeland, totaling seven children. Copeland’s brothers are Miles Copeland III, founder of IRS Records, and Ian Copeland, a music promoter. He lives in Los Angeles.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Stewart Copeland on March 10, 2003 as a member of The Police. His drumming, particularly on hi-hat, influenced drummers like Joey Jordison of Slipknot; Copeland was so impressed by Jordison that he bought a double bass pedal after seeing him perform. Fans remember him as the only American member of The Police and a versatile composer and performer.
A wall of memorable lines from Stewart Copeland — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Smile My Friends, in Show-biz You Have to Take the Rough with the Smooth.
When I Was a Film Composer Under a Deadline Those Instruments Would Gather Dust. and Any Time I Spent Hooting Away on My Bass Clarinet Just for the Fun of It Felt Like Time Wasted. Then I Came to the Realization That It’s Not Goofing Off, That’s What I’m Here For.
I Am a Crusader, Educating Musicians Who Have the Depth of Talent for Large-scale Enterprises. I Encourage Them. It’s Really a Lot of Fun. It’s Magnificent When You Hear the Orchestra Pump It Out. Learning to Score a Chart Is Easier Than Learning French. There Are Fewer Words And, Being Musicians, the People I’m Talking About Already Have That Covered.
I Was Not a Big Fan of Opera. I Didn’t Really Get the First Few I Saw Until I Saw a David Hockney Production of Tristan. That Was En Education as to What It’s All About with Opera: the Power, the Majesty, the Kick-ass of a Big Orchestra and a Big Story.
The Film Composer Has the Widest Skill Set of Any Musician Because He Has to Go to Places That His Instincts Wouldn’t Take Him. I Learned All Kinds of Useful Stuff That I Now Apply to My Own Artistic Vision.
In Our Day, We Were the Beatles of the ’70S or the ’80S or Whichever…and We Were the Biggest Thing Since Whatever and Then Six Months After We Broke Up, Duran Duran Were the Biggest. After That, Somebody Else Was And, Six Months Ago, Oasis Were the Biggest. Now the Spice Girls Are. so It’s Kind of Hard to Take Any of That Seriously.
I Didn’t Say I Was Religious. I’m a Big Fan of the Old Testament and the Perfidy It Contains. I Read Very Little Fiction.
I Have the Most Enormous Gong in the World; It’s Bigger Than Neil Peart’s, and It’s Bigger Than John Bonham’s. If Neil Has a Revolving Kit, Then I Have a Bigger Gong. I Play Other Instruments as Well, Mind You, but Drums Are My Main Thing.
Because of My Enforced Listening to Buddy Rich, I’d Have to Say That I Am Allergic to Jazz.
Little-known facts about Stewart Copeland — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
He is the only American member of The Police.
His father, Miles Copeland, was a trumpeter in Glenn Miller’s Air Force Band and later a founding CIA agent.
He lived in Egypt and Lebanon as a child due to his father’s CIA career and mother’s archaeology work.
He is fluent in Arabic, the main language of his childhood.
He is step-cousin of Courteney Cox.
Despite not looking like a headbanger, Copeland is a heavy metal fan and enjoys Sepultura and Slipknot; after watching Slipknot’s drummer Joey Jordison, he bought a double bass pedal.
On September 1, 2002, he performed as drummer in a reunited version of The Doors, dubbed The 21st Century Doors, with Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, and Ian Astbury.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him as a member of The Police on March 10, 2003.
He considers The Police’s second album, Regatta de Blanc 1979, as their best work.
He was the founding member of The Police with Sting; the band had five #1 singles in the UK between 1979 and 1983 before breaking up in 1986.
His brother Miles A. Copeland III was founder of IRS Records, an A&M subsidiary, in the 1980s.
He has six children: with first wife Sonja Kristina he had three sons Sven, Jordan, Scott; with current wife Fiona Dent he has three daughters Eve, Grace, Celeste.
He is a virtuoso on the hi-hat; Peter Gabriel recruited him to play hi-hat on his 1986 song Red Rain, making Copeland the first musician heard on the record.
He is the brother of Ian Copeland, a music promoter.
He attended The American Community School of Beirut in Lebanon as a child.
He lives in Los Angeles.
He co-founded Ark 21 Records in 1997 with his brother Miles A. Copeland III.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Stewart Copeland.
Celebrities similar to Stewart Copeland — same craft, ranked by reach.
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