VIDEO: Sting and Shaggy Talk Broadway, Bob Marley, and How Eddie Murphy Inspired ‘It Wasn’t Me’

When music icons Sting and Shaggy first teamed up, the pairing raised a few eyebrows. On paper, a British new wave pioneer and a Jamaican dancehall superstar do not exactly seem like a conventional match. Yet, their decades-long bond has spawned hit records, massive tours, and a deep mutual respect, culminating in a world tour of Sting’s Broadway musical “The Last Ship,” which arrives at the Met Opera later this month. On Tuesday morning, the duo visited the studio to catch up with Howard, perform live for Stern Show listeners, and tease an exclusive special airing Friday on Howard 101.

While the creative pairing might seem unexpected to some, it makes perfect sense to the two artists. Their connection is deeply rooted in a shared love of reggae, particularly the music and philosophy of Bob Marley. Long before they ever shared a studio, Jamaica played a foundational role in Sting’s songwriting career. “I’ve always had great respect for Sting and the Police’s music because of the fact that what he did with the Police at that time had so many influences from my country,” Shaggy explained to Howard. “He wrote ‘Every Breath You Take’ and songs like those in Jamaica … and they were heavily played in Jamaica as a kid growing up.”

The duo first met backstage at a Sting concert in Antwerp, Belgium, where Shaggy made a surprise appearance on stage during “Roxanne” to sing the classic hit alongside him. What started as a chance encounter eventually blossomed into a friendship and genuine, familial bond. “Sting is the brother I never knew I needed,” Shaggy added. “On paper it doesn’t look like it makes sense — him and I joke about this all the time — but there’s somehow a chemistry.”

Hearing them interact, Howard compared their relationship to a musical marriage, likening it to Paul McCartney and John Lennon. “You’re absolutely right,” Sting agreed, pointing to a recent Beatles documentary that put Paul and John’s love on full display. “It’s love. Two voices absolutely in love with each other. You’re completely right. A musical marriage. That’s why the Beatles were fantastic.”

“I always lacked that in any band I was in — until I met Shaggy,” he added with a laugh.

It Was Eddie

Speaking about the origins of one of his own multi-platinum tunes, Shaggy revealed the catch-them-in-the-act concept behind “It Wasn’t Me” was directly inspired by a specific bit from Eddie Murphy’s legendary 1987 stand-up special, “Raw.” “So, there’s a line in there where he says, ‘It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.’ That’s where I got that whole idea from,” Shaggy said. Years later, Shaggy shared the origin story with Eddie Murphy himself backstage at a comedy show. “I said, ‘You know, that’s where I got that.’ And he looked at me and says, ‘Well, you know, you owe me royalties, motherfucka,’” Shaggy laughed.

Sting noted that when they perform “It Wasn’t Me” together, he plays the role of the aggrieved party who catches the cheater red-handed. He recalled once defending the track to a pastor before playing a venue in Germany. “I said, ‘Your reverence, This song you’re about to hear, it may sound kind of risqué, but it’s actually a morality tale.’ And of course, if you listen to it, that’s the truth,” Sting explained. “It is a morality tale. The devil gets his just desserts in the end.”

“All THis Time” & “The Last Ship”

Sting reprises the role of Jackie White in the revival of his semi-autobiographical musical “The Last Ship,” which now also features Shaggy playing the part of the Ferryman. “It has changed a lot since [the original run],” Sting noted, explaining that while the 2014 version of the musical faced some hurdles, he was immensely fond of the material. “I was proud of that production. It wasn’t a huge success, but I never conflate commercial success with excellence or its opposite,” Sting told Howard. “I think a play takes a while to find its audience. I think it takes a while to find itself. I think we’re in very good shape because next week we’re playing at the Met [Opera] in New York City. I mean, that’s the biggest Opera house in the world — and there we are, me and Shaggy.”

To close out their appearance, the duo performed two songs from “The Last Ship” — the title track and “All This Time” — live in the studio. “I’m going to do a song that I actually wrote the beginning of when I was a kid. I lived very close to the shipyard that is portrayed in the musical,” Sting told Howard. “I spent a lot of time on the ferry landing watching ships go back and forth out onto the world and wondering where my life would lead.”

Howard wondered if Sting envisioned becoming a rock star when he began writing that song at 15.

“Well, the alternatives in my town were to work in a shipyard, which was an incredibly dangerous, dark, frightening, place. Or the other end of the town was a coal mine,” Sting said. “So, I thought, ‘Hang on, neither of those are for me.’ So, I studied hard at school, got a scholarship, learned to play a guitar, and eventually became a successful international musician.”

Decades later, he looks back at his surroundings as a valuable inspiration. “I realized at some point in my life that I owed a great deal to the surreal industrial environment I’d been brought up in because it was filled with powerful symbolism and it’s a gift to me as an artist, and so I went back to my town and tried to tell the story of what happened to it. And that’s what ‘The Last Ship’ is.”

Tune into Howard 101 at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, June 5, to hear Howard Stern Presents: Sting & Shaggy and get tickets for “The Last Ship” world tour here.