The Police are a three-piece rock band consisting of Sting (vocals; bass guitar); Andy Summers (guitar; vocals) and Stewart Copeland (drums; percussion; vocals). The band became globally popular in the early 1980s; playing a style of rock that was influenced by jazz; rock and reggae music.. Their 1983 album; Synchronicity; was number one in the UK and the US and sold over 8;000;000 copies in the US. The band broke up in 1984; but reunited in early 2007 to undertake a world tour lasting until August 2008; in celebration of the 30th anniversary of their hit single Roxanne and also; to a lesser extent; that of their formation as a group. To date The Police have sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. Rolling Stone ranked The Police number 70 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. "Spirits in the Material World" is a song by new wave trio The Police, written by Sting. It is the opening track for their 1981 album Ghost in the Machine. The song features bass, guitar, synthesizer, drums, saxophone, and vocals. It has a Jamaican Ska beat which changes to a swaggering rock beat in the chorus. It was released as a single in 1982 and reached.