Stewart Copeland | |
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.jpg) Copeland in 2025 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Klark Kent |
| Born | Stewart Armstrong Copeland (1952-07-16)July 16, 1952 (age 73) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1974–present |
| Member of | |
| Formerly of | |
| Website | stewartcopeland |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Genre | Music |
| Subscribers | 111 thousand |
| Views | 15.9 million |
| Last updated: August 18, 2025 | |
Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American musician and composer. He is best known as the drummer of the English rock bandthe Police (1977–86, 2007–08). Before the Police, he played drums with theprogressive rock bandCurved Air (1975–76).
As a composer, Copeland's work includes the scores of the filmsWall Street (1987),Men at Work (1990),Good Burger (1997), andWe Are Your Friends (2015); the theme music for television showsThe Equalizer,The Amanda Show, andDead Like Me; and the scores for video games in theSpyro series andAlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. He has also written pieces for ballet, opera, and orchestra.
According toMusicRadar, Copeland's "distinctive drum sound and uniqueness of style has made him one of the most popular drummers to ever get behind a drumset".[1] He was ranked the 10th-best drummer of all time byRolling Stone in 2016.[2] He was inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003, theModern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2005, and theClassic Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.[3][4][5]
Copeland was born inAlexandria, Virginia, on July 16, 1952,[6][7] the youngest of four children of Scottish archaeologistLorraine Copeland (née Adie; 1921–2013) and American espionage officer[8]Miles Copeland Jr. (1916–1991). His mother was born inEdinburgh, while his father was fromAlabama. His father was, according to his own 1989 biography[9] and files released by the CIA in 2008,[10] a key intelligence operative in Britain during theSecond World War and a founding member of theCentral Intelligence Agency. Stewart's mother was also an espionage veteran, serving in the BritishSpecial Operations Executive.
Miles Copeland was assigned CIA duties in theMiddle East and the family moved toCairo a few months after Stewart's birth. When Stewart was five years old the family moved toBeirut,[11] where he attended theAmerican Community School. He started taking drumming lessons at age 12 and was playing drums for school dances within a year. He later moved to England, attending theAmerican School in London andMillfield boarding school inSomerset from 1967 to 1969.[11] He went to college inCalifornia, enrolling atAlliant International University and theUniversity of California, Berkeley. His eldest brother,Miles Copeland III (born 1944), foundedI.R.S. Records and became the Police's manager. He has also overseen Copeland's interests in other music projects. His other brother,Ian Copeland (1949–2006), was a pioneering booking agent who represented the Police and many others.
Returning to England, Copeland worked asroad manager for theprogressive rock bandCurved Air's 1974 reunion tour, and then as drummer for the band during 1975 and 1976. The band kicked off with a European tour, which started poorly.[12] Band leaderDarryl Way, a notorious perfectionist,[13] grew impatient with the struggling of his bandmates, especially novice drummer Copeland.[12] Then, for reasons no one could pinpoint, the musicians suddenly "clicked" with each other and the band caught fire, quickly becoming a popular and acclaimed live act.[12]
Eventually, Way left the band and after months of gradually losing steam, Curved Air broke up so quietly that, by singerSonja Kristina's recollections, most of the music press wrote off the band's absence as a "sabbatical". Copeland went on to form the Police and Kristina and Way both pursued solo careers. Kristina and Copeland maintained the close personal relationship they'd formed while bandmates and were married in 1982.
In early 1977, Copeland founded the Police with lead singer-bass guitaristSting and guitaristHenry Padovani (who was soon replaced byAndy Summers), and they became one of the top bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Copeland was the youngest member of the band.The Police's early track list (before their album debut) was largely Copeland compositions, including the band's first single "Fall Out" (Illegal Records, 1977) and theB-side "Nothing Achieving". Though Copeland's songwriting contribution was reduced to a couple of songs per album asSting started writing more material, he continued to co-arrange allthe Police's songs together with his two bandmates. Amongst Copeland's most notable songs are "On Any Other Day" (where he also sang lead vocals), "Does Everyone Stare" (later to be used as the title of his documentary on the bandEveryone Stares: The Police Inside Out), "Contact", "Bombs Away", "Darkness" and "Miss Gradenko". Copeland also co-wrote a number of songs with Sting, including "Peanuts", "Landlord", "It's Alright for You" and "Re-Humanize Yourself".
Copeland also recorded under thepseudonym Klark Kent, releasing several UK singles in 1978 with one ("Don't Care") entering theUK singles chart that year, along with aneponymous 10-inch album on greenvinyl released in 1980. Recording atNigel Gray's Surrey Sound Studios, Copeland played all the instruments and sang the lead vocals himself. Kent's "Don't Care", which peaked at No. 48 UK in August 1978, actually predates the first chart single by the Police by several months ("Can't Stand Losing You", issued in October 1978) as "Don't Care" was released in early June 1978.
In 1982, Copeland was involved in the production of aWOMAD benefit album calledMusic and Rhythm. Copeland's score forRumble Fish secured him aGolden Globe nomination in 1983. The film, directed and produced byFrancis Ford Coppola from theS. E. Hinton novel, also had a song released to radio onA&M Records "Don't Box Me In" (UK singles chart n. 91)—a collaboration between Copeland and singer-songwriterStan Ridgway, leader of the bandWall of Voodoo—that received significant airplay upon release of the film that year.
The Rhythmatist record of 1985 was the result of a pilgrimage to Africa and its people, and it features local drums and percussion, with more drums, percussion, other musical instruments and occasional lead vocals added by Copeland. The album was the official soundtrack to the movie of the same name, which was co-written by Stewart. Copeland is seen in the film playing the drums in a cage with lions surrounding him.The Police attempted a reunion in 1986, but the project fell apart.[14]
After the Police disbanded, Copeland established a career composing soundtracks for films (Airborne,Talk Radio,Wall Street,Riff Raff,Raining Stones,Surviving the Game,See No Evil, Hear No Evil,Highlander II: The Quickening,She's Having a Baby,The First Power,Fresh,Taking Care of Business,West Beirut,I am David,Riding the Bus with My Sister,Good Burger), television (The Equalizer,Dead Like Me,Star Wars: Droids, the pilot forBabylon 5 (1993),Nickelodeon'sThe Amanda Show,The Life and Times of Juniper Lee), operas (Holy Blood and Crescent Moon, commissioned byCleveland Opera) and ballets (Prey' Ballet Oklahoma,Casque of Amontillado,Noah's Ark/Solcheeka, commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra,King Lear, commissioned by the San Francisco Ballet Company,Emilio).[15] In 1996, Copeland provided the score forThe Leopard Son,Discovery Channel's first commercially released full-length feature film, made by wildlife filmmakerHugo van Lawick.[16]
Copeland also occasionally played drums for other artists.Peter Gabriel employed Copeland to perform on his songs "Red Rain" and "Big Time" from his 1986 albumSo because of his "hi-hat mastery".[1] That year he also teamed withAdam Ant to record the title track and video for theAnthony Michael Hall filmOut of Bounds. In 1989, Copeland formedAnimal Logic with jazz bassistStanley Clarke and singer-songwriterDeborah Holland. The trio had success with their first album and world tour but broke up as the members wanted to pursue other projects.[17] He has also played on albums byMike Rutherford andTom Waits.
In 1993 he composed the music forChannel 4'sHorse Opera and director Bob Baldwin, and in 1999, he provided the voice of an additionalAmerican soldier in the animatedmusicalcomedywar filmSouth Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999).[18]
Copeland was commissioned byUniversal Interactive andInsomniac Games in 1998 to make the musical score for thePlayStation gameSpyro the Dragon.[19][20] He would play through the levels first to get a feel for each one before composing the soundtrack.[21] He also stayed with the project to create the musical scores for the remaining Insomniac sequelsSpyro 2: Ripto's Rage! andSpyro: Year of the Dragon. Universal Interactive had different developers handle the fourth title,[22]Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, which would be Copeland's last outing with the series.[21] While the soundtracks never saw commercial release, the limited edition of the fourth game came packaged with a bonus CD, containing unused tracks.[23] The soundtracks were very well received,[24] and one track would later appear on the 2007 compilation albumThe Stewart Copeland Anthology. Copeland composed a new title theme forSpyro Reignited Trilogy.[25]
This period also saw Copeland compose the soundtrack forAlone in the Dark: The New Nightmare, his only video game soundtrack outside of theSpyro franchise to date.
In 2000, he combined withLes Claypool ofPrimus (with whom he produced a track on the Primus albumAntipop) andTrey Anastasio ofPhish to create the bandOysterhead. That same year, he was approached by directorAdam Collis to assemble thescore for the filmSunset Strip.
In 2002, Copeland was hired byRay Manzarek andRobby Krieger ofthe Doors to play with them for a new album and tour, but the tour was cut short.[26]
In 2005, Copeland released "Orchestralli", a live recording of chamber ensemble music which he had composed during a short tour of Italy in 2002. Also in 2005, Copeland startedGizmodrome, a new project withavant-garde guitaristDavid Fiuczynski, multi-instrumentalistVittorio Cosma, singer Raiz and bassistMax Gazzè. The band made their U.S. debut on September 16, 2006, at theModern Drummer Drum Festival. In January 2006, Copeland premiered his film about the Police calledEveryone Stares: The Police Inside Out at theSundance Film Festival. In February and March, he appeared as one of the judges on theBBC television showJust the Two of Us (a role he later reprised for a second series in January 2007).
At the 2007Grammy Awards, Copeland, Andy Summers and Sting performed the song "Roxanne" together again as the Police. This marked the band's first public performance since their induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. One day later, the band announced that in celebration of the Police's 30th anniversary, they would be embarking on what turned out to be a one-offreunion tour on May 28, 2007. During the tour, Copeland also released his compilation albumThe Stewart Copeland Anthology, which was composed of his independent work.
In 2007, the French government appointed Copeland (along with Police bandmates Summers and Sting) a Chevalier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres.[27]
The group performed 151 dates across five continents, concluding with a final show in August 2008 atMadison Square Garden, New York.
In 2008,RIM commissioned Copeland to write a "soundtrack" for theBlackBerry Bold smart phone. He created a highly percussive theme of one minute's length from which he evolved six ringtones and a softer 'alarm tone' that are preloaded on the device.[28]
In March 2008, he premiered his orchestral composition "Celeste" at "An Evening with Stewart Copeland", part of the Savannah Music Festival. The performance featured classical violinistDaniel Hope. His appearance at Savannah included a screening ofEveryone Stares: The Police Inside Out and a question and answer session. Also in 2008, he was commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to create a percussion piece involving primarily Indonesian instruments. "Gamelan D'Drum" was first performed in Dallas on February 5, 2012, and had its European Premiere at the Royal Academy of Music in London in July 2012.
On August 21, 2009, at SummerFest 2009, Copeland unveiled the composition "Retail Therapy", which was commissioned by the Music Society. He performed three more original works: "Kaya", "Celeste", and "Gene Pool", the last accompanied by San Diego–based percussion ensemble red fish blue fish.[29] He attended a composer's roundtable and a question and answer discussion in conjunction with the festival. Copeland wrote the score for a theatrical presentation ofBen-Hur, which premiered on September 17, 2009, atthe O2 Arena in London. He provided English-language narration of the production, which is performed inLatin andAramaic.[citation needed] His memoirStrange Things Happen: A Life with The Police, Polo, and Pygmies was released byHarperCollins in September 2009.[30] The book chronicles events in his life from childhood through his work with the Police and to the present.[31] In October 2009, he was a guest onPrivate Passions, the biographical music discussion program onBBC Radio 3.[32]
On May 24, 2011, he started a YouTube channel devoted to his videos and project updates.[33] On this channel, he uploads performances with various musicians, includingPrimus, Andy Summers,Jeff Lynne,Snoop Dogg, and others in his home studio, which he refers to as the Sacred Grove. On August 24, 2011, he was a featured soloist on theLate Show with David Letterman, as part of their second "Drum Solo Week".
On January 10, 2012, he appeared on an episode of the A&E reality seriesStorage Wars to appraise a drum set for Barry Weiss, buying a Turkish cymbal from the set for $40. In July he reunited with former Animal Logic bandmate Stanley Clarke for a European tour.
In May 2013, he and theLong Beach Opera premieredThe Tale Tell Heart, an opera based on the short story byEdgar Allan Poe.[34]
On November 26, 2013, he appeared in the first episode ofThe Tim Ferriss Experiment.[35]
In 2017, he reformedGizmodrome as a supergroup withAdrian Belew,Vittorio Cosma, andMark King and released analbum of the same name.[36] That album peaked at No. 14 on theUK Independent Albums chart.[37][38]
Ricky Kej and Copeland previously worked together on a song in 2016. During a pause in concerts and overall activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kej reached out to Copeland. The duo eventually collaborated on a studio album entitledDivine Tides. This album was released in 2021 alongside eight music videos shot in locations ranging from the Himalayas in India, to forests in Spain.[39] In April 2022, the album scored Copeland his sixthGrammy Award, and Ricky Kej his secondGrammy Awards, in the category ofBest New Age Album.[40]
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On September 5, 2021, the operaElectric Saint about the life ofNikola Tesla by Copeland with libretto by Jonathan Moore premiered at theNational Theater of Weimar.[41][42]
In 2022, he was appointed a Visiting Scholar atMcGill University in the laboratory ofDr. Daniel J. Levitin, during which time they co-wrote the chapter "What Can the Performing Arts Learnfrom Empirical Time Research? Timing, Tempo and Rhythm: Evidence from the Laboratory and the Concert Stage" for the Oxford University Press book "Performing Time: Synchrony and Temporal Flow in Music and Dance."[43]
On February 6, 2023, the albumDivine Tides brought Copeland his seventh Grammy Award and Ricky Kej his third Grammy Award in the65th Annual Grammy Awards in the category ofBest Immersive Audio Album.[44]
In 1974, Copeland became romantically involved withCurved Air vocalistSonja Kristina, and they were married from 1982 to 1991.[45][46] He adopted her son from a previous relationship, and they had two sons of their own.[46][47] In 1981, he fathered a son with Marina, the daughter of Irish authorDesmond Guinness andMariga Guinness.[46][48][49] He currently lives inLos Angeles with his second wife Fiona,[50] with whom he has three children.[46][51]
Copeland's hobbies include rollerskating, cycling along the beach inSanta Monica, filmmaking, and playing polo.[46] He is also active on hisYouTube channel, where he uploads videos of himself and other musicians during jam sessions in his studio, the Sacred Grove.[52][53]
Copeland grew up listening to a combination of Lebanese music, rock and roll, jazz, and reggae, but he selected from these styles what he needed rather than imitating them. In the 1980s, when many musicians were looking for bigger sound from bigger drums, he addedOctobans. Invented byTama Drums in 1978, Octobans consisted of eight six-inch drums in the shape of narrow tubes. He used another innovation, asplash cymbal based on a toy that he owned and that he helpedPaiste design. He relied heavily on his 13"hi-hats.[54]
Copeland's equipment includesTama drums,Paiste cymbals,Remo drum heads, andVater signature drum sticks.[54]
Original live kit set-up (1984)[edit]
| The Police Reunion (2007–2008) tour kit[edit]
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| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| The Young Ones | 1984 | 1 episode ("Cash"). Appears as a member of Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve. |
| The Equalizer | 1985 | |
| Star Wars: Droids | Theme music only, co-written with Derek Holt | |
| Shalom Salaam | 1989 | Miniseries |
| Long Ago and Far Away | 1 episode ("Noah's Ark"), was also released as an audiobook. | |
| Babylon 5 | 1994 | Pilot only |
| Insiders | 1997 | Miniseries |
| The Amanda Show | 1999–2002 | |
| Brutally Normal | 2000 | |
| Breaking News | 2002 | |
| Dead Like Me | 2003–2004 | |
| Desperate Housewives | 2004 | 1 episode ("Who's That Woman?") |
| The Life and Times of Juniper Lee | 2005–2007 | Co-wrote theme music with Rob Cuariclia, David Lehner and Rob Lehner |
| Amas de Casa Desesperadas | 2008 | 1 episode ("¿Quién es esa mujer?") |
| Stewart Copeland's Adventures in Music | 2020 | TV mini-series, presenter |
| Title | Year | Producer(s)/Developer(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban Strike | 1994 | Electronic Arts, Granite Bay Software, Foley Hi-Tech | Special thanks |
| Spyro the Dragon | 1998 | Universal Interactive,Insomniac Games | |
| Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! | 1999 | ||
| Spyro: Year of the Dragon | 2000 | With Ryan Beveridge | |
| Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare | 2001 | Infogrames, Darkworks | With Thierry Desseaux |
| Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly | 2002 | Universal Interactive, Check Six Studios, Equinoxe Digital Entertainment | With Peter Neff and Kenneth Burgomaster |
| Guitar Hero: World Tour | 2008 | Activision,Neversoft | Music thanks |
| Spyro Reignited Trilogy | 2018 | Activision,Toys for Bob | Original music, main theme, assisted with remastered tracks[55] |
Stewart Copeland: I was born in Alexandria (Va., not Egypt).
Stewart Copeland was born on July 16, 1952, inAlexandria, Virginia, in the United States, but soon after moved with his family toBeirut, Lebanon. In this Middle Eastern city on the Mediterranean, Stewart grew up...
Later, I was one of the 200 employees who were on the original list of career members when the CIA became official in July 1974.
[Julia Child's] fellow spies included professional baseball player Moe Berg, US supreme court justice Arthur Goldberg and Miles Copeland, the father of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland.
On September 27th, in movie theatres across the country, Discovery Channel Pictures opened its first commercially-released full-length 35mm feature film,The Leopard Son.
This CD was included in limited-edition game packages of "Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly" for Playstation 2
…this soundtrack is great, highly effective for the game, and an all-around joy to listen to.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)…his main focus nowadays is his own YouTube channel, which features jam sessions between Copeland and some very recognizable names.
Wild Jams at the Sacred Grove: My rock star chums come here to hang and play live music.
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