Ask American Profile

Sting, Delta Burke, Dixie Chicks, John Grisham, Kurt Warner

Where did rock singer Sting get that unusual name, and what is his real name?
—Jonathan T., Texas

Sting, 49, was born Gordon Sumner in Wallsend, England, and was given that name early in his musical career by a bandmate who admired his black-and-yellow striped sweater. Sting played bass for several rock and jazz bands before skyrocketing to fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the lead singer in the pop group The Police, which had hits such as Don’t Stand So Close to Me and Every Breath You Take. After The Police disbanded, Sting continued as a solo artist, lending his talents to the soundtracks of several films, including Disney’s recent The Emperor’s New Groove.

Delta Burke’s character in my favorite television show, Designing Women, was a former beauty contestant. Was she a pageant winner in real life?
—Deana C., South Dakota

Burke, 44, an Orlando, Fla., native, began her career as a model. In 1974, she represented Florida in the Miss America Pageant and won a talent scholarship, which she used to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. From there, she went to Los Angeles where she began her acting career, eventually landing the role for which she is best known—Suzanne Sugarbaker, the self-absorbed ex-beauty queen on Designing Women—and for which she received two Emmy nominations. Burke now plays Judith Whitman, the smart, strong-willed first lady in the television comedy DAG. She and her actor husband, Gerald McRaney (Major Dad), divide their time between homes in New Orleans’ French Quarter and Los Angeles.

Why did the Dixie Chicks title their newest album Fly? It has no song by that name.
—Rhonda P., Connecticut

“We’ve kind of earned our wings,” explains Martie Seidel, the trio’s fiddle-playing Chick. “The first album (Wide Open Spaces) was like the mama bird, the record company, pushing us towards the edge so we could learn to fly. And now we’re doing it on our own.” The title fit professionally and personally, she says. “When I said to the girls, ‘What about Fly for the title of our album?’ we started to see how many references there were to flight, birds, or wings in the songs. There are so many meanings to it. It was like a sign.” It must have been. In 2000, Fly was named the Country Music Association’s Album of the Year, the Academy of Country Music’s Album of the Year, and it received a Grammy Award for Best Country Album.

How many books has author John Grisham written?
—Nancy W., West Virginia

Prolific writer John Grisham, 46, whose name is synonymous with the legal thriller, has published 11 books since his first, A Time to Kill, debuted in 1988. Others include The Client, The Brethren, and The Pelican Brief. The lawyer-turned-writer just published his latest book, A Painted House, a story narrated by a 7-year-old farm boy and inspired by his own childhood in rural Arkansas. Grisham now splits his time between his Victorian home on a 67-acre Mississippi farm and a large plantation near Charlottesville, Va., (pop. 40,767). He lives with his wife of 16 years, Renee, and their two children, Ty, 14, and Shea, 12.

Does St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner do charity work?
—Rodney J., Kansas

Warner—a Super Bowl champ and extraordinary football player—and his wife, Brenda, have chosen Camp Barnabas, a Purdy, Mo., (pop. 1,140) Christian summer camp for children and teenagers with medical, physical, or developmental disabilities, as a major beneficiary of his charity work. Their generosity has netted more than $200,000 for Camp Barnabas to expand its services and include more campers. The Warners also support other worthy causes such as the Red Cross. Warner, born in Burlington, Iowa, (pop. 26,853) now lives in St. Louis. He and Brenda have three children and, at press time, were expecting a fourth.

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