Andy Summers of the Police

Andy Summers has enthralled music fans with his unique talent since entering the music scene in the late 1960s. Since picking up a guitar at the age of thirteen, Andy has made his mark as an essential component of The Police, as a solo artist, and as a writer, photographer, composer, and producer.

Before joining The Police in 1977, Andy had shown his skills as a guitar player with The Animals one of the band s tracks features a guitar solo by Andy lasting 4 minutes, 15 seconds, the longest on record at the time!

With The Police Andy is a continual source of energy behind Sting s dynamic vocals, his guitar playing a distinctive signature of the Police sound. During this period in his career, Andy won two Grammys for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. He was also voted the number one pop guitarist for five years by Guitar Player Magazine and was inducted into the Guitar Player Hall of Fame. In 2003, Andy, Sting, and Stewart Copeland were also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Andy Summers Music

Andy s creative and professional pursuits haven t slowed down since The Police broke up in 1984. Since then Andy has released twelve solo albums: XYZ (1986), Mysterious Barricades (1988), The Golden Wire (1989), Charming Snakes (1990), World Gone Strange (1991), Synaethesia (1996), The Last Dance of Mr. X (1997), A Windham Hill Retrospective (1998), Green Chimneys (1999), Peggy s Blue Skylight (2000), Earth + Sky (2004), and The X Tracks (2005). In each of these albums Andy has explored a different avenue of his talents and hasn t shied away from experimentation with different genres and styles.

Beyond his solo guitar work, Andy has also collaborated with a number of artists including John Etheridge and, most recently, Fernanda Takai. Additionally, Andy has teamed up with his old band mate Sting from time to time to collaborate on new tracks. In 2007 Andy reunited with The Police to perform in a reunion tour which lasted through August, 2008. The tour was the third highest grossing of all time.

Andy Summers Photography & Writing

Andy s musical pursuits are only one facet of his long and distinguished career. He has also written a number of books and essays and has released several photography collections. His works include One Train Later, Light Strings, Desirer Walks the Street, I ll Be Watching You: Inside the Police, and Throb. Andy s autobiography, One Train Later, has been turned into a film documentary set to be released in the summer of 2012.

Andy continues to tour, produce, and express himself creatively at every turn. One of the greatest guitar players of our generation, fans of Andy Summers hope that this prolific artist will continue generating groundbreaking work for years to come.