Sting's critically acclaimed Back To Bass tour stops in Kitchener, Ontario on Monday, June 17 and we've got two free tickets for one lucky winner and their guest to attend!

Sting performed in honor of Elton John, Billy Joel sang snippets of Foreigner's hits when introducing the band and Smokey Robinson debuted part of a new song he wrote about Berry Gordy. John and writing partner Bernie Taupin received the Johnny Mercer award, and Sting kicked off the night with a performance of ''Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting.'' Sting also called John and Taupin ''my two heroes.''

Check out the latest clip in Virtual Ticket and the first from this leg of the tour. The Virtual Ticket section of Sting.com gives you first access to backstage interviews, behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage, studio takes etc. Members get rare, inside perspectives...

The ONE Campaign today launched agit8, a unique music-based campaign designed to build pressure for action against extreme poverty in the crucial week leading up to the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. The campaign includes a digital music platform featuring new video recordings of classic protest songs, a new Richard Curtis film that will be projected on the iconic façade of the Tate Modern in London and impromptu live performances...

Sting's current ''Back to Bass'' tour is a tightly packed retrospective, assembling all the facets of his 36-year career into a neat two hours of the obvious hits, some international detours, and requisite ballads. The Ravinia show, the first of two consecutive sold-out nights, accommodated the expectations of anyone who entered the Sting camp early, middle, or late. He didn't push things much beyond those boundaries; instead, Sting performed with the consummate class of a professional who appears more relaxed in presenting his long line of musical trophies than he is earning any more for the shelf...

Sting's latest project - an album entitled The Last Ship, inspired by his play of the same name - was informed by his memories of growing up in Wallsend in the shadow of the Swan Hunters Shipyard. In February 2012, a small local audience was invited to Newcastle's Live Theatre to witness an early reading of the play. The reading, which included new songs by Sting, was performed with a cast and musicians and gave the audience an opportunity to see how things were progressing. At the time, they would have been forgiven for thinking that the songs were nearly finished - in fact, the play and songs were, at that time, still in the early developmental stages, with exciting new improvements and additions to come...

Theatre-goers will be the first to hear an early preview of a new song by Sting. The musician’s yet-to-be released album, The Last Ship, shares the name of a musical play he has devised, which is to open on Broadway next year. And he has given permission for the title song to be included in another new play to be premiered in the North East this month. Director Max Roberts asked Sting for permission to include his song All This Time in the play, Tyne. Sting gave his blessing and also sent a demo recording of The Last Ship along with additional lyrics...

Forget the 16 Grammy Awards and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame credentials. How many 61-year-old men can still rock skinny jeans? He's still got it. Sting’s vocals still sound crystalline, his musical chops are uncanny and his catalog is the unabridged manifesto for Rock Theory 101. He's the original hipster - and the flattery is well-earned. For his globe-trotting ''Back To Bass'' tour that hit Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Wednesday night, Sting stripped-down the production value and offered up a no frills, no gimmicks approach show. For the opener ''If I Ever Lose My Faith,'' Sting strolled out on stage with his bass in hand like he was doing a simple sound check. No operatic stage effects, no pyrotechnics, no fluff. It was a refreshing diversion from the overwrought stage designs that most large acts rely on for theatric spunk...

The inspiration for it really stemmed from my album The Soul Cages that I wrote in 1990, which depicted the landscape of my hometown, Wallsend, in the Northeast of England. My early memories are of the Swan Hunters shipyard at the end of the street, where some of the largest ships ever built were constructed; the imposing presence of ships, towering over the roofs of the terraced houses we lived in, represented a very potent symbolism for me. I watched thousands of men walk down our street every day on their way to work on these mighty ships. My great-great-grandfather was a master mariner, one of my grandfathers was a North Sea pilot, another was a shipwright, and my father served his time as an engineer. So my family over the generations has always been connected to the sea and ships...

Cherrytree/Interscope/A&M Records is pleased to announce a new album of original material from Sting, entitled The Last Ship, scheduled for release on September 24, 2013 (internationally on September 23, 2013). The album is inspired by Sting's forthcoming play of the same name and explores the central themes of homecoming and self-discovery, drawing upon his memories of growing up in the shadow of the Swan Hunters Shipyard in Wallsend. His personal reminiscences illuminate universal truths - the complexity of relationships, the passage of time and the importance of family and community - to form an affecting, complex parable for our modern times...

GRAMMY® Charity Online Auctions - the latest in this year's auction series is the "Get Ready To Rock Auction," which launched just after the MusiCares MAP Fund® benefit concert honoring two-time GRAMMY-winning Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington. Presented in partnership with Kompolt, the lots are available for bid now through June 10 at www.ebay.com/grammy. Winning bidders can enjoy extraordinary memorabilia and meet & greets with all proceeds benefiting MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation. Rock memorabilia signed by Jeff Beck, the Black Keys, Fun., Billy Idol, Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Tom Petty, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sting, Neil Young, and more!

Sting will release an album of new songs next fall, his first full-length LP of original material since 2003's "Sacred Love," his publicist said. The album, "The Last Ship," grew out of the songwriting Sting has been doing for a musical of the same name, which the producers hope will run on Broadway in 2014. That play is set in a shipyard in Wallsend, England, near where Sting, born Gordon Sumner, spent his youth. "The Last Ship" will contain several songs used in the musical, as well as a few others Sting wrote for the play but decided not to include. It will be released on Sept. 24 by a consortium of three labels - Cherrytree, Interscope and A & M Records...

The only question needing an answer heading into Sting’s Victoria debut on Friday night: Which version of the rock legend would show up? The fiery Brit whose first band, the Police, produced an incredible number of hits over a six-year period? Or the easy-listening yoga practitioner whose last substantial hit was a decade ago? Turns out he was a little bit of both at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre. Sting, 61, delivered a 21-song, two-hour set split evenly between Police hits and solo offerings. Not every song from both sides of his personality worked, but there was a uniqueness to many of the left-field choices that bookended his staple singles...

The Back To Bass Summer 2013 tour kicked off on May 30 in Kelowna, BC! Check out this photo of Sting rehearsing for opening night and for a glance at the opening night's setlist. If you were there be sure to tell us what you thought of the show by posting your comments over at sting.com/tour/date/id/2846...