Sting Talks New ‘Stolen Car’ Duet With French Singer Mylène Farmer

Sting's latest recording finds him taking a detour into his past — with a Gallic twist.

Rolling Stone reports that the former Police frontman recently notched another No. 1 single in France courtesy of global pop star Mylène Farmer, who enlisted him for vocal support on her new cover of his song "Stolen Car." As he told the magazine, their collaboration — which includes a video teased in the clip above — started with a meeting after one of his concerts.

"She said, 'Do you have any songs that would be appropriate that we could sing together?' And immediately I thought of 'Stolen Car,'" he explained. "I'd written it almost 12 years ago. It was always designed to have a female singing in the chorus: 'Take me dancing tonight.' Because the girl doesn't get enough attention. She's the mistress of a successful businessman and there's a poignancy about the story. I was waiting for the right woman to sing the song, and Mylène was the perfect candidate."

Originally recorded for Sting's Sacred Love LP in 2003, "Stolen Car" was released as the album's third and final single, and failed to make much of an impact on the pop charts. The new version has obviously garnered quite a bit more attention — and he says he's perfectly happy with that.

"It's a question of one plus one needing to make three, not two," mused Sting on the subject of collaborating with Farmer. "And I think in this case, we produced something far better than I did on my own, or could do on my own. There's a dimension to it now which is wonderful."

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This Day in Rock History: September 23