The Police formed with Stewart Copeland in early 1977 as drummer , Sting as the singer-bassist and Henry Padovani as the guitarist . In the same year they recorded their first single , `` Fall Out '' \/ `` Nothing Achieving , '' . Singer-bassist Sting ( Gordon Sumner ) and guitarist Henry Padovani began rehearsing with Copeland in January 1977 , and they recorded their first Police single `` Fall Out '' the following month .