Sting Praises His Kids’ ‘Extraordinary Work Ethic’ While Doubling-Down on Not Handing His Fortune Over to Them: ‘I’m Spending Our Money’
The rock icon said his move is "not cruel," just good parenting.
Black News 
Sting‘s six grown children have learned not to coast. The former Police singer and solo star has long been adamant that he plans to burn through his considerable career earnings and not leave a field of gold for his offspring. He doubled-down on that plan during a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, in which he told Mark Phillips that he’s won enough awards and gotten enough praise during his 50-plus-year career, and that he plans to stick to his guns on the subject of inheritance.
Speaking about his stage musical, The Last Ship, in which he pays tribute to the hard-working shipbuilders fallen upon hard times in his home city of Newcastle, Sting, 74, said he took to heart the values of those working-class folks. “The working class works and wants to work. I’m one of those people, I love to work,” he said.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer chronicled his life’s work, from first playing in bands as a teenager to working in an office, on building sites, teaching in a mining village and taking a gig as a performer on a cruise ship, noting that he has long thought that the worst thing a person of means can do for their kids is to say, “‘You don’t have to work.'”
Sting has two children with his first wife, son Joe Sumner and daughter Fuschia Sumner, as well as four kids with his second wife, Trudie Styler, Mickey, Jake, Eliot and Giacomo Sumner. “I think that’s a form of abuse that I hope I’m never guilty of. That said, Sting crowed that all of his kids have been blessed with an “extraordinary work either,” whether from their famous dad’s DNA or from him simply being very frank about his financial planning.
“Or whether I’ve said to them, ‘Guys, you got to work. I’m spending our money. I’m paying for your education. You’ve got shoes on your feet. Go to work,'” he said he’s told them. “That’s not cruel. I think there’s a kindness there and a trust that they will make their own way. They’re tough, my kids.”
Sting’s 3.0 tour will touch down at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Fla. on Wednesday night (May 6) before moving on to the Choctaw Grand Theater in Durant, Okla. on Saturday (May 9).
Check out Sting’s interview below.
