I’m Weller jealous of Bono & Sting, admits Paul Former The Jam singer Paul Weller has admitted harbouring feelings of jealousy towards U2 frontman Bono and former Police lead singer Sting. In an interview with Q magazine, the former Style Council vocalist said that Sting and Bono were both “bankable commodities” who “really know how to sell records”. Weller also went on to compliment the two even further, saying: “They sell out every time they perform – it’s incredible. I, for one, am jealous of their dedication. It’s amazing to think they’re both in their fifties, but are still shifting units like they were thirty years ago. “At the end of the day, making music is about doing something which appeals to everyone, and I think Bono especially knows the importance of that. He’s a guy who knows his audience and fair play to him for that. I really loved U2 back in 1988 when they all seemed to grow mullets and break America. To me, that was the pinnacle of that band’s career, and you have to hand it to them – they certainly knew what they were doing.” Weller also singled out praise for Sting’s “dedication above and beyond the realms of conventional instrumentation”, despite his “comfortable wealth”. The former You Do Something To Me singer languished even further plaudits on the former Geordie singer, declaring: “Pound-for-pound, he offers the best value out of all solo artists around at the moment. For me, his character is his main selling point – people really feel they’re getting something genuine with Sting’s records, and his quality hasn’t diminished at all over 30 years.” Weller, 53, concluded the interview by throwing down the gauntlet to critics of the two singers: “A lot of cynics might say their music is ‘rubbish’, or that they’re ‘conceited’, but I won’t have any of it. You’ve got to have something about you if you’re to survive in this business, and I think Sting and Bono both have great characters. You can’t keep them down. I’ve been out drinking with both of them and I’ve got to tell you, anyone who thinks either of them is conceited has no idea what they’re talking about. “That’s the thing that annoys me most about the music industry – these gnarly old cynics who get their kicks out of putting down successful and talented musicians, just because they’re a bit old or they’re not musically ‘relevant’ anymore. I especially hate the less successful musicians who try and score cheap points by slagging off their contemporary counterparts in past-their-best music journals – I mean, what sort of desperate prick would do that? Oh…” Note: This is sarcastic but it certainly rings true.
I'm sticking up for him because: 1 Weller is a prick 2 The Police were the band of my Youth (one of them anyway) 3 I like to be different
Dev and Sting up a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G First came the helmet, then the undercarriage, Then came the baby looking like Robbie Savage Seriously, Dev, he's a cumstain. I'll ignore the Police being terrible and Sting's awful solo ****e. He's godfather to one of Madonna's kids (not sure if it's a stolen African one or one that actually came out Skeletor's muff). He chased every semi-fashionable cause he could in the eighties before having his colossal carbon footprint pointed out to him. He's a gimp.
Anyway, this thread was supposed to be about Weller so let's just agree that he's as much of a prick as sting. Then we can all move on and put this behind us.
Weller is a prick but he's more of a satellite-sized prick next to the Jupiter of prickiness that is Sting.
The one thing we can agree on is that neither Stingio nor The TwatFather are as much of pricks than Neil Lennon, the King Of Pricks.
Totally agree. Preachy, hypocritical bastard. Goes on about saving the rainforest but was happy to earn plenty of $$$s advertising Range Rovers in America. The worst is Bono though. I go to a gig/concert to have a good time, not to be lectured to by some tax-avoiding **** with more money than I could ever dream of. And don't get me started on that **** Chris Martin. Whiny, "oh my life's so tough" bastard! Oh is it Chris? Rich pop star married to Hollywood actress. What a ****ing chore that must be!
The missus nagged me into buying two Lionel Richie tickets for november so I went to the box office at the Newcastle Arena to buy them. A young bird was sitting there at the kiosk, a 'Lionel Richie tickets' sign above her head. I sang the word 'Hello' to her (just like Lionel does) and she continued to just look at me, completely oblivious, just blank. Didn't get it.
