Sting Hopes to Do a ‘Good Job’ Singing en Español at Premio Lo Nuestro
Should we call him Pica now? Sting is headed to Univision’s Premio Lo Nuestro later this month to premiere his new completely-in-Spanish single “Por Su Amor,” Rolling Stone can exclusively announce.
The 17-time Grammy winner says that the track, originally titled “For Her Love” and featured on his recent album The Bridge, was influenced by “the rhythm of reggaeton” and made sense being sung in Spanish. “Apart from the words, there’s a musicality to the language,” he tells Rolling Stone. “When I sing, I’m hearing something more than what the words mean. It’s the sound of the words that’s very powerful to me.”
Sting recorded the track during a visit to Cabo San Lucas and was inspired by the vistas and waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Now, he’ll hit the stage at Premio Lo Nuestro on Feb. 24 to perform the track. “It’s a responsibility but a very exciting one,” Sting admits. “I’m deeply honored and hope I do a good job.”
This isn’t the British legend’s first foray into music in Spanish, however. He dropped Nada Como el Sol, an EP of songs translated from English to Spanish and Portuguese in 1988. He was also featured on “Simple” from Ricky Martin‘s Latin Grammy-winning EP Pausa in 2020.
I’ve known Ricky for a very long time and I have a great deal of love and respect for him,” says Sting. “He coached me on the internet, basically. I was in England and he was here. He coached me through the song so that I sounded convincing. That was very exciting and I loved the end result. It was fantastic.”
Sting follows in the footsteps of John Travolta who joined Pitbull on stage at Premio Lo Nuestro last year to perform “3 to Tango,” after the actor was featured in the song’s music video.
This year’s awards show — hosted by Alejandra Espinoza, Gabriel Soto, and Yuri — will also feature performances by CNCO, Luis Fonsi, Natti Natasha, Sebastián Yatra, and Ángela Aguilar.