The Police – Roxanne

When Roxanne was released in April 1978, The Police were far from superstars. A year earlier, they had put out their debut single Fall Out on an independent label run by Stewart Copeland’s brother Miles, who also managed the band. It flopped, and the group feared they might not survive much longer. Pressure was mounting: they needed a song that could change their fortunes.

By the time they entered Surrey Sound Studios in early 1978, the band’s lineup had shifted. Original guitarist Henry Padovani had quit, and Andy Summers stepped in beside Sting and Stewart Copeland. Together with producer Nigel Gray, they began recording new material, including a song Sting had written in Paris after being struck by the atmosphere of the red-light district near their hotel.

That song was Roxanne. Sting liked it, but thought it too brooding to be a hit. It didn’t fit neatly into the band’s harder-edged setlists. Miles Copeland, however, heard something else: a blend of tension, romance, and danger that stood out from anything else they’d done. He insisted it be released as the single and struck a distribution deal with A&M Records. The terms were modest—no advance, just royalties on sales—but it was enough to give The Police their first foothold on a major label.

The name gave the song an extra dimension. Sting had noticed a poster for Cyrano de Bergerac in the hotel lobby, and “Roxanne” caught his eye. The name also carried a long cultural history: Roxanne was the wife of Alexander the Great, and the tragic love interest of Cyrano de Bergerac. It was a name that carried romance and drama, perfectly suited to the lyric’s plea for a woman to turn away from street life.

Musically, Roxanne began as a gentle bossa nova idea before Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers drove it toward a sharper, reggae-tinged rhythm. One of its quirks—the clashing piano chord and Sting’s laugh at the very start—was an accident in the studio that the band decided to keep, giving the track a spontaneous edge.

Initially, the BBC refused to playlist the song due to its subject matter. But in the U.S., a radio station in Texas picked it up, followed by strong support in Boston. Reissued in 1979, Roxanne climbed to No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 32 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. More importantly, it gave The Police their breakthrough and set the stage for the success of Outlandos d’Amour and the global fame that followed.

Decades later, Roxanne remains one of The Police’s defining songs. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. What began as a gamble in a small Surrey studio became the track that changed everything for a struggling young band.

Quick Facts & Trivia

• Song: Roxanne
• Artist: The Police
• Release: April 7, 1978
• Album: Outlandos d’Amour
• Writer: Sting
• Producer: Nigel Gray (Surrey Sound Studios)
• Band lineup: Sting (vocals/bass), Andy Summers (guitar), Stewart Copeland (drums)
  Chart Peaks: UK #12 (1979 reissue), US #32 Billboard Hot 100

Trivia:

• First major-label release after the flop of Fall Out.
• Miles Copeland insisted it be the single and secured the A&M deal.
• Sting chose the name “Roxanne” after seeing a Cyrano de Bergerac poster—also historically Alexander the Great’s wife.
• The accidental piano chord and Sting’s laugh at the intro were kept in the final mix