"Fragile" is a song written and performed by English musician and singer-songwriter Sting from his second studio album, ...Nothing Like the Sun (1987). Released as a single the following year by A&M, it peaked at number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. Sung additionally in both Spanish and Portuguese under the titles "Fragilidad" and "Frágil", it appeared twice more on his 1988 EP variant of the album, Nada como el sol. The Spanish version features as a B-side to "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying".
The song is a tribute to Ben Linder, an American civil engineer who was killed by the Contras in 1987 while working on a hydroelectric project in Nicaragua.[2] In a 1994 interview with Miami Herald, Sting said that the song's meaning "changes yearly. When I sing it now I think of Bosnia and Yugoslavia."[3]
The guitars on "Fragile" were played by Sting. Dominic Miller, who has served as Sting's touring guitarist, remarked in a 1999 interview with Virtual Guitar Magazine that Sting was "quite proud of the fact that he played guitar on the recording". He said that Sting would bar him from playing guitar for live performances of "Fragile" in response to Miller incorrectly telling fans that he played guitar on the song. Instead, Miller was assigned to bass guitar for live renditions of "Fragile".[2]
I meet a lot of fans who think that I played [the guitars on "Fragile"]. I tell Sting that I say I did. It really pisses him off! So, his comeback is not letting me play it live. It's been like that for years now and I'm delegated [sic] to bass.
In the 2025 Netflix Series "Adolescence", a cover version of the song performed by a student choir from Minsthorpe Community College in West Yorkshire, UK, is used as a soundtrack. It has received praise from Sting who called it "beautiful".[21]
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