In a recent interview, Sting discussed Police’s chart-topping hit “Every Breath You Take” from their 1983 album Synchronicity and the song’s ties to Sean “Diddy” Combs.
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sting said that despite the allegations against Combs — who sampled the song on 1997’s “I’ll Be Missing You” — the iconic song still belongs to him.
When asked if the controversy surrounding Combs affected the way the Police frontman viewed the Eighties classic, Sting responded, “No. I mean, I don’t know what went on [with Diddy]. But it doesn’t taint the song at all for me. It’s still my song.” Sting added that fans still “absolutely” love to hear that track performed.
The Bad Boy mogul is currently facing a sex trafficking and racketeering case, along with at least a dozen new civil lawsuits filed against Combs after his September arrest. Just last week, Combs’ attorneys submitted a motion urging the court to “immediately restrain extrajudicial statements by potential witnesses and their counsel” while the court weighs both parties’ arguments.
Combs previously claimed he paid Sting $5,000 a day for using the song as a sample on “I’ll Be Missing You,” but later, the disgraced musician clarified that he was “being facetious.”
“Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You,” Combs wrote on X in April 2023. “He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history.”
“I’ll Be Missing You,” which featured Faith Hill in 1997, was a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. and became a hit for Diddy. The rapper only asked Sting’s permission for the sample after the song was released. Diddy and Sting have both addressed the situation previously.
In an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2003, Sting confirmed that the uncleared sample has netted him a lot of money.
“Those guys just take your shit, put it on a record and deal with the legality later,” Sting said at the time. “Elton John told me, ‘You gotta hear [“I’ll Be Missing You”], you’re gonna be a millionaire!’ I said, ‘I am a millionaire!’ He said, ‘You’re gonna be a millionaire twice over!’ I put a couple of my kids through college with the proceeds, and me and P. Diddy are good pals still.”