Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is an American drummer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist best known as a founding member of The Police. His playing helped define the band's tense, highly syncopated blend of punk, reggae, new wave, and pop, while his later work established him as a prolific composer for film, television, video games, opera, ballet, and orchestra.
Copeland began his professional career in the mid-1970s with the progressive rock band Curved Air, joining during a period of lineup changes and touring with the group in 1975 and 1976. In London, he formed The Police in 1977 with singer and bassist Sting and guitarist Henry Padovani. Andy Summers soon replaced Padovani, completing the trio's classic lineup. Copeland's aggressive but precise drumming became one of the band's defining musical features. He combined punk's speed and physical force with reggae-influenced accents, unusual rhythmic patterns, and an alert sense of dynamics.
The Police moved rapidly from the British underground to international success. Their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour (1978), introduced songs such as "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You." It was followed by Reggatta de Blanc (1979), Zenyatta Mondatta (1980), Ghost in the Machine (1981), and Synchronicity (1983). Copeland received writing credits on several Police recordings, including "Bombs Away," "Peanuts," "Does Everyone Stare," and "Behind My Camel," the latter earning a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. His drumming was central to the band's sound, particularly on tracks such as "Walking on the Moon," "Driven to Tears," and "Message in a Bottle."
During The Police's rise, Copeland also recorded solo material under the name Klark Kent. The project emphasized his interest in concise, eccentric pop songs and allowed him to perform as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. After The Police ceased regular activity in the mid-1980s, he increasingly concentrated on composition. His soundtrack work included Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983), Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987), and scores for films including Talk Radio, Highlander II: The Quickening, Fresh, West Beirut, and Good Burger. He also wrote music for television programs such as The Equalizer, The Amanda Show, and Dead Like Me.
Copeland's compositional interests extended well beyond popular music. He wrote the opera Holy Blood and Crescent Moon, commissioned by Cleveland Opera and premiered in 1989, followed by further operatic and theatrical works. His output also includes ballets, orchestral pieces, chamber music, and music for the Spyro the Dragon video game series. These projects reflect a long-standing interest in combining complex rhythm, cinematic color, and contemporary classical techniques.
He continued to work in collaborative groups, including Animal Logic with bassist Stanley Clarke and singer Deborah Holland, Oysterhead with Les Claypool and Trey Anastasio, and Gizmodrome with Adrian Belew, Vittorio Cosma, and Mark King. In 2006, he directed Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, a documentary assembled from Super 8 footage he shot during the band's early years. The Police reunited for a major world tour in 2007 and 2008, and the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
In later years, Copeland revisited The Police's catalog through orchestral arrangements. Police Deranged for Orchestra, released in 2023, reworked the band's songs for symphony orchestra, rock musicians, and Copeland's own drums. The project brought together the two principal strands of his career: the restless rhythmic energy of his rock playing and his continuing work as a composer.