In 1983, Gwen Stefani was about 13 or 14 years old. Her father worked for Yamaha motorcycles, which is relevant because there was some kind of promotion involving Yamaha and The Police (Sting’s band at the time). Stefani’s dad got backstage passes related to this Yamaha promotion.
She and friends had access backstage at one of Sting’s shows, and there was a photo taken of her getting his autograph. In the photo, Sting is sitting on a motorcycle, and Stefani is holding a Synchronicity album poster for him to sign.
“Because my dad worked for Yamaha motorcycles, he got us backstage passes,” Stefani recalled. “Yamaha was doing a special promotion for The Police, and they were shooting this poster. And even as a 13-year-old kid, I was aware of the band’s reputation for fighting and that Sting was a little bit scary. All of a sudden Sting takes off on one of the motorcycles, and my dad’s like, ‘Hurry up! You gotta go get his autograph.’ I’m terrified, but I run after him. I was this little chubby 13-year-old girl from the suburbs of Orange County. I was in love with him.”
She recalled that Sting wasn’t very enthusiastic – not really looking at her, apparently “grumpy” or reluctant about signing. But he did eventually sign the item.
In 2003, Stefani had the honor of inducting The Police into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. During her speech, she shared the story and showed the picture. She said she told Sting the story, and he admitted that he had been kind of a jerk at the time.
“When I met Sting years later, I told him that story, and he was like, ‘Oh man, I was such a dick back then,'” Stefani said. “But he’s such a great guy.”
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