Sting says he won’t be setting up trust funds for his six children, arguing they should “make their own way” in the world.
The 74-year-old singer was asked if his kids would inherit his fortune during a recent interview with Mark Phillips on CBS Sunday Morning.
“I think the worst thing you can do to a kid is to say, ‘You don’t have to work,’” he responded. “I think that’s a form of abuse that I hope I’m never guilty of.”
“All of my kids have been blessed with an extraordinary work ethic, whether it’s the DNA of it or whether I’ve said to them, ‘Guys, you got to work,’” he continued. “I’m spending our money. I’m paying for your education. You’ve got shoes on your feet. Go to work.”
Sting, whose real name is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, said his parenting approach was not “cruel,” adding, “I think that there’s a kindness there and a trust in them that they will make their own way. They're tough, my kids.”
When Phillips asked if his kids get frustrated by his perspective on money, the “Every Breath You Take” singer replied: “No, not to my face, they don’t.”
The musician and his wife of 33 years, Trudie Styler, share four adult children: Mickey, 42, Jake, 40, Eliot, 35 and Giacomo, 30. He also shares Joe, 49, and Fuschia, 44, with his ex-wife, Frances Tomelty.
The singer has spoken about forcing his kids to make their own way in life in the past. “I certainly don’t want to leave them trust funds that are albatrosses round their necks,” he told Mail on Sunday in 2014.
“They have to work. All my kids know that and they rarely ask me for anything, which I really respect and appreciate. Obviously, if they were in trouble, I would help them, but I’ve never really had to do that. They have the work ethic that makes them want to succeed on their own merit.”
In a 2020 interview with People, Sting said his children were “fiercely independent.”
“They’re not sitting there waiting for a handout at all, and I wouldn't want to rob them of that adventure in life: to make your own living. It's a wonderful and difficult thing to do. So I haven't promised them anything,” he explained.
Sting rose to fame as the frontman, bassist and songwriter for The Police, one of the most popular bands of the Seventies and Eighties. The group released five studio albums and won five Grammys before being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
Since going solo in 1985, Sting has released 15 albums and won 11 Grammys. And his music career is still busier than ever, as he’ll be on his worldwide STING 3.0 tour, featuring shows in North America and Europe, until November. In June, he’ll be releasing his album and concert film, The Night Watch: Live at the Rijksmuseum.
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