Sting and Shaggy just need a place to hang out, and here’s why they keep choosing Philly

The bromance continues.

British bassist and former Police man Sting and Jamaican dance hall rapper Shaggy first met cute in 2017 at a Los Angeles recording session for Shaggy’s song “Don’t Make Me Wait.”

What was planned as a one-off trial between the two artists — who share a manager, Martin Kierszenbaum — blossomed into an ongoing collaboration and enduring friendship.

First, there was a 2018 album, 44 / 876, named for the country codes of the two pals’ native nations, which led to the unlikely duo singing to Queen Elizabeth on her 92nd birthday and winning a best reggae album Grammy.

Then the unlikely duo got weird with Com Fly Wid Mi, a Sting-produced Shaggy album of Frank Sinatra covers, born on a boating trip in Norway where Sting swam in a fjord and Shaggy sang along to Ol’ Blue Eyes while grilling hamburgers.

Naturally, the next logical step was to host their own One Fine Day music festival at the Mann Center in Philadelphia, which they did in September 2023, with a bill that included Thundercat, Koffee, and Tank and the Bangas.

Two years later, One Fine Day is back, returning to the Mann Sept. 6, again headlined by both Sting and Shaggy, this time joined by New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia, “Electric Boogie” former Bob Marley backup singer Marcia Griffiths, and alt-rock band O.A.R., among others.

One day this summer, Sting and Shaggy joined a Zoom call to talk about bringing back One Fine Day, and what they’ve learned from each other since they’ve become best buddies.

Sting spoke sitting on the veranda at his home outside Florence in Italy, while Shaggy chatted from a hotel in Spain where he was playing a reggae festival near Valencia.

Both, they said, were looking forward to seeing each other in the flesh in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia.

The duo, whose rapport is apparent in the 2019 Tiny Desk Concert that’s the fourth most popular ever in the NPR Music series as well as on their lilting new single “Til A Mawnin,” don’t get to perform together frequently.

So is part of One Fine Day’s reason for being that it’s an excuse for Sting and Shaggy to hang together?

“It’s the main part, frankly,” said Sting.

“I agree,” Shaggy concurred.

“We did it two years ago, and it was a lovely, collegiate vibe,” said Sting, 73. “We introduced every band. So everybody felt like we were genuinely curating the event, and felt that spirit of community. And we wanted to do it again the same way. And yeah, as you say, it’s an excuse to hang out.”

“It’s also fun because we get to walk though the audience, and fans love that,” said Shaggy. “Sting and I are walking with fans to the next stage, and they get to interact with us.”

At the first One Fine Day, the stars sat in with other artists, with Sting singing with Italian vocalist Giordana Angi and Shaggy toasting with Trinidadian soca band Kes.

With music at both the Mann’s TD Pavilion and hilltop Skyline Stage, expect more of that this year when the bill includes the Original Wailers featuring guitarist Al Anderson, electro-pop singer Sophie Grey., and self-described “half Asian singing cowboy” Chance Emerson.

“Whenever we perform together, there’s an element of surprise,” said Shaggy, whose hits include “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel.” “We might rehearse something a certain way, but then we do it a little bit differently once we’re live.”

“That’s because you always forget what we rehearsed!” Sting shot back.

He’s joking.

“Shaggy is a great improviser. I’m Mr. Preparation. It’s like chalk and cheese. The surprise is that it works. He brings out the fun side of me, so I’m not taking things too seriously. Which I have the tendency to do.”

Shaggy, 56, grew up in Kingston, where he regularly heard the Police’s reggae-fied tunes on the radio, not realizing many of them had been written by Sting at James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s GoldenEye estate in Jamaica.

Among those is the 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take,” the most played on the radio song in history, according to BMI. Diddy — then known as Puff Daddy — sampled it in “I’ll Be Missing You” in 1997.

(After this interview was conducted, the Sun reported Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland of the Police, who were not credited as writers, are suing Sting in a London court for lost royalties.)

Since they’ve become buddies, Sting “has had a massive influence on me,” said Shaggy. “Once we’ve started collaborating, I’ve changed a lot. I’m a lot more melodic. He’s opened up that palette for me and now I want to dive into it more. I mean, the dude had me singing Frank Sinatra reggae songs, for God’s sake!”

The idea to stage One Fine Day — named after a Sting song about the climate crisis on his 2016 album 57th & 9th — in Philadelphia was suggested by promoters Live Nation, Sting said.

It made perfect sense to him.

“They suggested the Mann, which is an iconic venue,” he said. “And they thought there was a market for what we’re trying to do in Philadelphia, which they were right about last time and hopefully will be this time.

“But you know, the answer to the question of ‘Why Philadelphia?’ is ‘Why not Philadelphia?’ It’s a great music city. I think Philadelphia suffers in the shadow of New York, but it shouldn’t. It’s a major cultural center, a major music center.

“I’m quite happy coming back to Philadelphia again and again. I’ve been doing it for 45 years, going back to Grendel’s Lair,” Sting said, speaking of the 220 capacity South Street club the Police played in 1978, five years before drawing 90,000 at JFK Stadium. The band also played Citizens Bank Park on its 2007 reunion tour.

Shaggy says he has a different reason to return to Philly.

“I’m just here for the cheesesteaks, bro.” In 2023, “when we were doing sound check, and then the actual concert, they kept bringing them in. So many different kinds with different cheeses and stuff. I had a bit of an overload.”

Sting didn’t get to sample any of the Angelo’s Pizzeria delicacies because after Shaggy got through indulging, “there were none left!”

One Fine Day took 2024 off not by choice, Sting and Shaggy say, but because it was too tricky to schedule it.

“We had a lot of commitments we couldn’t get out of,” said Sting. “We’re busy guys!”

That’s certainly true of Sting, who will tour Asia and Europe this fall before playing the Borgata in Atlantic City Nov. 14-15. He’ll star in his play The Last Ship in Paris, Amsterdam, and Brisbane in early 2026.

But that should still leave time for another One Fine Day next September.

“We want this to go well, and give us confidence to go forward,” Sting said. “But I don’t see any reason why we can’t have it every year.”

Sting & Shaggy present One Fine Day at the Mann Center, 5201 Parkside Ave. at 4 p.m. Sept. 6. $30-$164. manncenter.org