Sting has announced he will join a multitude of other artists including Adele and Dave Matthews that are contributing songs to ‘Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.’ All songs will be Dylan covers by some of the most high profile artists working today, and proceeds from the album will benefit the human rights group.

Sting announced that he will join the Dave Matthews Band and indie rock group My Morning Jacket for a cover of “You’re a Big Girl Now,” off Dylan’s 1975 masterpiece Blood on the Tracks. Another collaboration will find alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams teaming up with Los Angeles punk band Bad Religion to cover “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven” from 1997’s Time Out of Mind.

Although it may not be too much of a stretch to imagine Adele performing a Dylan cover—in this case “To Make You Feel My Love,” also from Time Out of Mind—Ke$ha could seem like a stretch due to the stylistic difference between her music and Dylan’s, though she says this is not necessarily the case.

When the Nashville pop singer recently spoke to Rolling Stone about the project she said, “When you think of me, you wouldn’t think of Bob Dylan. My music is more about going crazy than politics. But he’s a huge influence—he writes his own music and means what he says. I write my own music and I…mean every word I sing.”

Patti Smith will contribute “Drifter’s Escape,” from 1967’s John Wesley Harding, and punk/hardcore band Rise Against will cover the protest classic “Ballad of Hollis Brown.”

The album is set to be released in the United Kingdom on November 21 and the following day in the United States. Amnesty International was formed in London in 1961 and has grown into one of the largest and most well-known human rights organizations working today.

On Monday, Sting, the British singer-songwriter, announced plans for a concert tour of North America to celebrate his solo career’s 25th anniversary.

According to Live Nation, The Police’s former frontman will be launching “Back to Bass Tour” in Boston at Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang Theatre on October 21. It is expected that the pop icon will be playing his hits in stripped-down versions during the shows, with backing from his five-piece band.

On his tour, Sting will be stopping in Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Washington and Philadelphia. According to Live Nation, an announcement of additional dates will be made in upcoming weeks.

Starting on September 19, tickets will be going on sale via LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com.

“Sting: 25 Years,” a box set collection, will be released on September 27.

Sting on October 1 will be gathering in NYC with friends to celebrate his 60th birthday.

As expected, the event for the former singer of the Police isn’t going to be a small one. He will be hanging out with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Branford Marsalis, Rufus Wainwright, will.i.am, Vince Gill, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Herbie Hancock, Robert Downey, Jr., Mary J. Blige and Lady Gaga at Beacon Theatre. Most certainly at least some or maybe all these guests will be taking to the stage to perform a few songs.

Sting’s birthday party is private, however members of the Sting Fan Club can buy tickets for $270. For those who are not members of the fan club, a donation can be made to Robin Hood Foundation for those really want to go. The bash is acting as a fundraiser for the foundation. Orchestra tickets can be purchased for approximately $1000.

Thanks to leaks on the internet, the Montreux Jazz Festival announced their lineup for 2011 a few days early. The huge list of acts this year making their way to Switzerland include Deep Purple, Paul Simon, Sting, Ricky Martin and Santana.

Deep Purple performing at Montreux Jazz is particularly noteworthy considering that their song “Smoke On The Water” is a description of a real life fire at Montreux Casino. The line in the song about “Funky Claude” refers to Claude Nobs, the festival’s founder. Deep Purple with perform with a symphony orchestra at Montreux Jazz on July 16.

On July 6 Ricky Martin will be performing, on July 11 Sting will bring his “Symphonicity” tour to Montreux, on July12, Seal with perform and on July 14 Paul Simon will take to the stage.

Also highly anticipated are the Montreux collaborations including the Miles Davis tribute which will feature Sean Rickman, Sean Jones, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Marcus Miller. John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana will also perform together on July 1 before Santana performs on July 2.

The schedule also includes the artists Liza Minnelli, Femi Kuti, Jimmy Cliff, Raphael Saadiq, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Donovan Frankenreiter, Larry Graham and Graham Central Station, B.B. King and Arcade Fire.

Montreux organizers had planned to announce their lineup on April 14. However after they discovered it had been leaked on the internet, they made their initial announcement today.

Organizers stated that the fact that the information was catching this much attention and gave rise to so many rumors flattered them, although they would have preferred to announce their program on the scheduled April 14 date.

More acts are still scheduled to be announced on April.

Some Sting fan club members are being treated to a “Symphonicity” exclusive concert. The show will feature Sting performing many of his greatest hit songs with a symphony accompanying him. The concert will take place on April 28 in New York City at Apollo Theater.

The concert is following Sting’s “Symphoncity World Tour.” According to a recent press release the trek has been extended to include additional performances in Europe.

A local orchestra, with Sarah Hicks conducting, will accompany Sting’s band. The New York Times cited Hicks as one of the “new wave female conductors.”

On April 8, tickets are going on sale for the Apollo show exclusively for fan club members. Legacy members will be able to purchase tickets an hour in advance starting at noon EDT. Fan club members are limited to purchasing four tickets each.

VIP Packages will be available as well. These VIP tickets are for seats within the Apollo Theater’s first ten rows and will also include admission to a cocktail reception prior to the show with light fare and beer and wine served at the Apollo’s Soundstage room.

Additional information regarding the fun club and Apollos show can be found at Sting.com.

After two years of circling the globe as part of the Police reunion tour, Sting took a much-deserved break. It seems a year and a half later, he’s ready to pickup the microphone and head out on the road this time with a different kind of group – the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. The Royal Philharmonic will be tasked with interpreting some of the biggest hits from Sting and the Police including “Every Breathe You Take,” “Fields of Gold,” “Roxanne” and “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic.”

The North American jaunt of the coming world tour will kick off in Vancouver on June 2. Currently five North American dates have been booked including a double dose for Chicago at the Ravinia Festival on June 17 & 18. According to the press release, a slew of US concert dates are due to hit the calendar in the coming weeks including Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia and Seattle. More news is forthcoming on the Canada and European portion of the world tour.

In addition to the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Sting will bring along Dominic Miller (guitar), Ira Coleman (bass), Jo Lawry (backing vocals) as well as David Cossin (percussion).

2010 Sting Concert Tour
June 2010
2 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Centre for the Performing Arts
9 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
15 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
17, 18 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia Festival at Ravinia Park