# Sacred Love

Professional ratings :
| Aggregate scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 66/100 |
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| Mojo | |
| PopMatters | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
Sacred Love is the seventh studio album by the English musician Sting. The album was released on 29 September 2003. The album featured smoother, R&B-style beats and experiments collaborating with hip-hop artist Mary J. Blige and sitar player Anoushka Shankar. Some songs like "Inside" and "Dead Man's Rope" were well received; and Sting had experimented with new sounds, in particular the more rock-influenced "This War".

## Background

Sting adapted the first quatrain of William Blake's Auguries of Innocence for the first four sung lines of "Send Your Love".
Sting's collaboration with Blige, "Whenever I Say Your Name", won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004. The first single "Send Your Love" was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, but it lost to "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake.
In August 2015, Mylène Farmer and Sting duetted on "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)" and released it as the lead single from Farmer's tenth studio album, Interstellaires; the track is produced by The Avener.

## Track listing

All tracks written by Sting. All tracks produced by Sting and Kipper; co-production on "Send Your Love" by Victor Calderone, and "Never Coming Home" by BT.

### Bonus tracks

There have been multiple editions of this album. Some of them, such as the Japanese edition, feature various extra songs and remixes. Although the track list on the official Sting website includes a remix of "Send Your Love" and a live version of "Shape of My Heart", these are not always available.
Depending on the edition, the following bonus tracks may be included:
* "Send Your Love (Dave Audé Remix)" – 3:16
* "Shape of My Heart" (Live) – 2:18
* "Like a Beautiful Smile" – 4:46
* "Moon over Bourbon Street (Cornelius Mix)"

### Remix tracks

* "Send Your Love (radio edit)" – 3:38
* "Send Your Love (Calderone & Quayle radio mix)" also called "(Victor Calderone & Mac Quayle's Radio Mix)" – 4:05
* "Send Your Love (Calderone & Quayle radio dub mix)" also called "(Victor Calderone & Mac Quayle's Dub Mix)" – 7:34
* "Send Your Love (Calderone + Quayle future mix)" also called "(Victor Calderone & Mac Quayle's Future Mix)" – 9:50
* "Send Your Love (Dave Aude remix - vocal edit)" – 3:17
* "Send Your Love (Dave Aude's Extended Vocal Mix)" – 6:34
* "Send Your Love (Minge Binge electric mix)" – 7:34
* "Send Your Love (Dave Aude' Massive Dub)" – 8:12
* "Send Your Love (Minge Binge Sex & Music Dub)" – 6:32
* "Send Your Love (Josh Wink Deeper Vocal Interpretation)" – 9:01
* "Send Your Love (Josh Wink Minimal Interpretation)" – 8:44
* "Whenever I Say Your Name (radio edit)" – 3:41
* "Whenever I Say Your Name (radio edit 1)" – 4:02
* "Whenever I Say Your Name (will.i.am remix featuring Black Eyed Peas)" – 4:02
* "Whenever I Say Your Name (Salaam's Groove Mix)"
* "Whenever I Say Your Name (Billy Mann mix)"
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Radio Version)" – 3:40
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (remix featuring will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas)" – 4:05
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (B. Recluse Remix featuring Twista)" – 3:03
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (B. Recluse mix instrumental)"
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Dave Aude's Extended Vocal Mix)" – 7:26
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Dave Aude's Vocal Edit)" – 4:05
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Richard "Humpty" Vission Big Floor Funk Mix)" – 6:28
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Dave Aude's Funk Dub Mix)" – 7:29
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Dave Aude's Haunting Dub Mix)" – 8:40
* "Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing) (Richard "Humpty" Vission Acidic Groove Mix)" – 6:13
* "Moon over Bourbon Street (Cornelius mix instrumental)"

## Personnel

* Sting – vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass (1–10, 12), Turkish clarinet
* Kipper – keyboards, programming, backing vocals
* David Hartley – piano and choir arrangements
* Jason Rebello – acoustic piano, Rhodes electric piano
* Jeff Young – Hammond organ
* Dominic Miller – guitars
* Vicente Amigo – flamenco guitar (2)
* Anoushka Shankar – sitar (9)
* Danny Dunlap – bass (11)
* Christian McBride – double bass
* Manu Katché – drums
* Vinnie Colaiuta – drums
* Rhani Krija – percussion
* Valerie Denys – castanets
* Aref Durvesh – tabla
* Levon Minassian – duduk
* Clark Gayton – trombone
* Chris Botti – trumpet
* Jacqueline Thomas – cello
* Mary J. Blige – lead vocals (3)
* Katreese Barnes – backing vocals
* Ada Dyer – backing vocals
* Lance Ellington – backing vocals
* Donna Gardier – backing vocals
* Joy Rose – featured and backing vocals
* Bahija Rhapl – ethnic vocals
* Choeur de Radio France – choir
* Philip White – associate chorus master

### Technical credits

* Simon Osborne – recording, mixing
* Steve Miller – mix engineer (11)
* Peter "Hopps" Lorimer – assistant engineer
* Donal Hodgson – Pro Tools engineer and programming
* Claudius Mittendorfer – technical assistant
* Charlie Paakkari – technical assistant
* Rodolphe Plisson – technical assistant
* Dave Audé – remixing and additional production (11)
* Chris Blair – stereo mastering
* Peter Mew – 5.1 mastering
* Danny Quatrochi – personal technician
* Recorded at Studio Mega (Paris, France); The Hit Factory (New York City, New York); Capitol Studios (Hollywood, California).
* Mastered at Abbey Road Studios (London, UK).

### Production credits

* Martin Kierszenbaum – A&R
* Andrea Ruffalo – A&R coordinator
* Tam Fairgrieve – production manager
* Richard Frankel – package design
* Paolo Roversi – photography
* Kathryn Schenker – management

## Certifications and sales

| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | Platinum | 100,000$^^$ |
| Czech Republic | — | 10,000 |
| France (SNEP) | Gold | 100,000$^*$ |
| Germany (BVMI) | Gold | 100,000$^^$ |
| Hungary (MAHASZ) | Gold | 10,000$^^$ |
| Japan (RIAJ) | Gold | 92,053 |
| Netherlands (NVPI) | Gold | 40,000$^^$ |
| Russia (NFPF) | Platinum | 20,000$^*$ |
| Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) | Platinum | 40,000$^^$ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) | Gold | 100,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000$^^$ |
| Summaries |||
| Europe (IFPI) | Platinum | 1,000,000$^*$ |
| Worldwide | — | 2,500,000 |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||