The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Their core line-up comprised Sting (lead vocals, bass, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. Emerging in the British new wave scene, they played a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz.

Their 1978 debut album, Outlandos d'Amour, reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and contains the singles "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You". Their second album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979), became the first of four consecutive No. 1 studio albums in the UK and Australia; its first two singles, "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon", became their first UK number-one singles. Their next two albums, Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) and Ghost in the Machine (1981), led to further critical and commercial success, with two songs, "Don't Stand So Close to Me" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", becoming UK number-one singles and Top 5 hits in other countries. The former album was their breakthrough into the US, reaching number five on the US Billboard 200.

Their final studio album, Synchronicity (1983), was No. 1 in the UK, Canada, Australia, Italy and the US, selling over 8 million copies in the US. Its lead single, "Every Breath You Take", became their fifth UK number one, and only US number one. During this time, the band were considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the US: in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them "the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in the world". However, at the height of their fame the Police disbanded in 1984, periodically reuniting for one-off performances before fully reuniting in early 2007 for a world tour ending in August 2008. They were the world's highest-earning musicians in 2008 due to their reunion tour, which was the highest-grossing tour of 2007.

The Police have sold over 75 million records, making them one of the best-selling bands of all time. The band won a number of music awards, including six Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards (winning Best British Group once), and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2003, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The band were included among both Rolling Stone's and VH1's lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".

On 25 September 1976, while on tour with the British progressive rock band Curved Air in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the northeast of England, the band's American drummer, Stewart Copeland, met and exchanged phone numbers with singer-bassist Gordon Sumner, a.k.a. Sting, who at the time was playing in a jazz-rock fusion band called Last Exit. On 12 January 1977, Sting moved to London, and on the day of his arrival, sought out Copeland for a jam session.

"I was inspired by the amazing energy of the whole thing, and I thought, 'Well, I'm new to London and I'm totally unknown, so I'll give it a go.' We did a 15-minute lightning set and I squealed and screamed."

Curved Air had recently split up and Copeland, inspired by the contemporary punk rock movement, was eager to form a new band to join the burgeoning London punk scene. While less keen, Sting acknowledged the commercial opportunities, so they formed the Police as a trio, with Corsican guitarist Henry Padovani recruited as the third member. After their debut concert on 1 March 1977 at the Alexandria Club in Newport, Wales (which lasted only ten minutes), the group played London pubs and punk clubs touring as backing band and support act for Cherry Vanilla and for Wayne County & the Electric Chairs. On 1 May 1977, the Police released on Illegal Records their debut single "Fall Out", recorded at Pathway Studios in Islington, North London on 12 February 1977 (a couple of weeks before the band's debut live performance), with a budget of £150. This is the only Police recording featuring Padovani. Mick Jagger reviewed the single in Sounds magazine.

Also in May 1977, former Gong musician Mike Howlett invited Sting to join him in the band project Strontium 90. The drummer Howlett had in mind, Chris Cutler, was unavailable, so Sting took Copeland. The band's fourth member was guitarist Andy Summers. A decade older than Sting and Copeland, Summers was a music industry veteran who had played with Eric Burdon and the Animals and Kevin Ayers among others. Strontium 90 performed at a Gong reunion concert in Paris on 28 May 1977, and played at a London club (under the name of "the Elevators") in July. The band also recorded several demo tracks: these were released (along with live recordings and an early version of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") 20 years later on the archive album Strontium 90: Police Academy.