For many they were an unlikely pair, and teaming British soft rocker Sting and reggae/dancehall act Shaggy was never going to work.
But the duo proved the critics wrong after they successfully released the joint album 44/876 – an ode to each other’s country code – in 2018 and won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in the process.
Sting is now set to release his next project Duets, and Don’t Make Me Wait, the lead single from 44/876 is being included on the tracklist.
However, fans of Sting, the former frontman of the band Police, will have to wait a few more months for this latest work, as it has been announced Duets, which originally was scheduled to be released on November 27, is now set to arrive in March next year.
The album’s release is being postponed because of “unforeseen, pandemic-related manufacturing delays”, according to a post on Sting’s Instagram page.
In addition to Shaggy, Sting’s Duets features collaborative tracks Sting has recorded over the years with various artists, including Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox, soul legend Sam Moore, Mary J Blige, jazz great Herbie Hancock, Julio Iglesias, Charles Aznavour, and trumpeter Chris Botti. The album also features Sting’s two most recent collaborations, Little Something, with American jazz singer Melody Gardot, and Mama, with singer and rapper Gashi.
In addition, Duets includes Desert Rose, Sting’s 2000 duet with Algerian singer Cheb Mami that is his most recent top-20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sting’s collaboration with Clapton, It’s Probably Me, was recorded for the soundtrack of Lethal Weapon 3 and received a 1993 Grammy nomination for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television.
Duets also boasts a new, never-before-released song called September, recorded with Sting’s close friend, Italian star Zucchero, which will be released as an advanced digital single on November 27.
Shaggy is also preparing for the release of his Christmas in the Islands album, which drops in a week. The diamond-selling artiste has said that this will not be your regular Christmas album, promising to put a Caribbean twist on traditional holiday music such as 12 Days of Christmas and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. The set which comprises 15 tracks will see collaborative work with local acts, including Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Junior Reid, Sanchez, Shenseea, OMI, Ding Dong, Craigy T, Romain Virgo and Richie Stephens. International acts Conkarah, Joss Stone and Ne-Yo.
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