Rapper used “Every Breath You Take” on his single “I’ll Be Missing You”
Diddy is keeping Sting’s bills paid. The rapper, who sampled Sting’s 1983 single “Every Breath You Take” in his 1997 single “I’ll Be Missing You,” revealed on Twitter that he pays the former Police frontman $5,000 in royalties per day.
“I’ll Be Missing You” was a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. and became a hit for Diddy. However, the rapper only asked Sting’s permission for the sample after the song was released. Diddy and Sting have both addressed the situation previously, and in a 2018 interview with The Breakfast Club Sting said he receives $2,000 a day from Diddy.
A clip of the interview resurfaced on Twitter this week and Diddy responded, “Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!”
There are no hard feelings between the two musicians. In the 2018 interview, Sting noted, “We’re very good friends now,” adding, “It was a beautiful version of that song.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2003, Sting confirmed that the uncleared sample has netted him a lot of money (and probably much more in the years since).
“Those guys just take your shit, put it on a record and deal with the legality later,” Sting said. “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.”
