"He's one of the people who inspired me to become a songwriter."
Sting admits he wishes he had written "a lot" of Paul McCartney's songs.
The former Police frontman was stunned when the Beatles legend told him he wished he had written his 1993 hit 'Fields Of Gold' himself.
Without naming any of Paul McCartney's songs, Sting told Music Week magazine that the same goes for him.
"I can't tell you how many Paul McCartney songs I wish I had written," he said.
“So that was pretty great what Paul said. But then again, he's one of the people who inspired me to become a songwriter," he emphasized.
“He's from Liverpool, a working-class man who conquered the world with his songs, so he gave a whole generation of people after him permission to try to do the same. And we did," he explained.
Like Paul McCartney in the past, Sting will be inducted into The Ivors Academy during the 2023 Ivor Novello Awards on May 18 in London.
"I think we songwriters are all connected in a lot of ways," Sting said.
"You don't become a songwriter out of thin air. You become a songwriter because you listen to other people's songs, because you get inspired by them, because you learn from them," he said.
"Everyone in this Academy is a person whose music has influenced mine, so we stand on the shoulders of giants," he noted.
Sting has won seven Ivor Novello Awards over the course of his career, and he doesn't take any accolade for granted.
“The award itself is probably the most beautiful award that can be given to you as a work of art. It's a beautiful bronze statuette, which I think was designed by an artist (Hazel Underwood) in 1955,” he continued.
"There's a long tradition there so it's nice to get another award, but I just love the event," he commented.
"Songwriting is an art, and Ivor Novello is its guild, if you will, so it's a great honor to be invited to join the guild and I don't take it for granted at all," said Sting.
