Sting had decade-long writer's block

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- British musician Sting said he suffered from writer's block until he stopped trying to write about himself, which led to the creation of his first musical.

The "Roxanne" singer's album of original music, released in September, is his first since "Sacred Love" in 2003. The new album was comprised of his own performances of music he wrote for his Broadway show, "The Last Ship," of which is also a producer.

Though he had released records of English Renaissance tunes, jazzy holiday songs and orchestral versions of some of his popular hits in the intervening decade, Sting suffered from writer's block, preventing him from churning out new material, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

"I'd been wondering whether I'd lost the mojo," he said. "But it turns out I just needed to stop writing about me. Once I said, 'OK, I'm gonna tell somebody else's story,' I freed up and the songs poured out in a very quick way.

"You need to be on input some of the time, to have something to say before you say it," he added.

"The Last Ship" opens in June in Chicago before heading to New York, the Times said.