STING:

After disbanding the Police at the peak of their popularity in 1984, Sting quickly established himself as a viable solo artist, one obsessed with expanding the boundaries of pop music. Sting incorporated heavy elements of jazz, classical, and worldbeat into his music, writing lyrics that were literate and self-consciously meaningful, and he was never afraid to emphasize this fact in the press.
 
Sting began work on his first solo album late in 1984, rounding up a group of jazz musicians as a supporting band. Moving from bass to guitar, he recorded his solo debut, 1985's “The Dream of the Blue Turtles,” with Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, and Omar Hakim.
 
Sting remained one of pop's biggest superstars for the first ten years of his solo career, before his record sales began to slip in 1996 but Sting remains a popular concert attraction, confirming his immense popularity.