Joe Sumner

Joe Sumner, offspring of Sting, has long distanced himself from that lineage ever since contributing backing vocals to his father's mid-'80s releases such as Dream of the Blue Turtles. He instead fronts his own outfit, Fiction Plane, and reportedly instructed the group's publicity representatives to omit any reference to the familial tie.

As adolescents barely out of their early teens, Sumner and his associate Dan Brown formed the band after drawing initial motivation from Nirvana's blend of hard-edged rock and broad commercial appeal. Fiction Plane issued its debut album in 2003. Despite efforts to diverge from his father's stylistic path, Sumner has demonstrated comparable skill in addressing political themes, most notably through the composition of "Soldier Machismo," which confronts the 2001 American invasion of Afghanistan.