Diddy has to pay Sting every day of his life.
On April 5, the multitalented businessman said he’s paying Sting $5K per day for sampling the 1983 hit song “Every Breath You Take” on his song “I’ll Be Missing You.”
In a previous interview with “The Breakfast Club,” Charlamagne Tha God asked Sting if Diddy had to pay him $2,000 because he didn’t have permission to sample “Every Breath You Take.”
“Yeah, for the rest of his life,” Sting said. “We’re really good friends, though.”
Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting! 😎 ✊🏿🫶🏿 https://t.co/sHdjd0UZEy
— LOVE (@Diddy) April 5, 2023
On April 5, Diddy responded to the clip on Twitter and said “Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother.”
According to Variety, most of the $5,000 is going to Universal Music Publishing, who acquired Sting’s song in 2022, along with most of his other songs in a deal worth around $350 million. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Sting may have kept some of his song and the catalog’s publishing or songwriting shares.
“Every Breath You Take” was one of the biggest songs of Sting’s former band, the Police. It topped the U.S. charts for eight weeks in 1983 and won two Grammys.
Diddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” was released in 1997 and was a tribute to Notorious B.I.G. Sting was originally not credited on the song and sued Diddy, but the incident was resolved.
