KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - Reunited rock trio the Police have announced they will launch a world tour in May, more than 20 years after frontman Sting angered his bandmates by leaving for a solo career.
The group whetted fans' appetite for the expected trek on Sunday night, when they performed their breakthrough hit Roxanne at the opening of the Grammy Awards ceremony.
Sting, 55, guitarist Andy Summers, 64, and drummer Stewart Copeland, 54, will kick off the tour on May 28 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Dates have so far been set for North America only; the band will play Europe in the autumn, and shows in Mexico, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are also anticipated.
Details were to be announced at a news conference at the famed Whisky A Go Go nightclub in West Hollywood where the Police will play a few songs.
The Police ended their seven-year run following their 1984 world tour for the album Synchronicity, which included the Grammy-winning song of the year Every Breath You Take.
Sting, the group's primary songwriter, who once described the Police as "a marriage of convenience," wanted more creative freedom. Summers and Copeland felt that the band should carry on, even though intra-band tension often led to fights.
The Police played a handful of US dates on the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1986, and also played at Sting's wedding in 1992, and at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2003.
This year is shaping up as the year of rock reunions. Phil Collins has returned to British art-rock combo Genesis for a monthlong summer tour of Europe, while mercurial singer David Lee Roth is back with rock band Van Halen after a two-decade estrangement.
Additionally, the New Zealand band Crowded House plans to end a 10-year hiatus once a replacement is found for late drummer Paul Hester.
- REUTERS
