Diddy is still paying a heavy price for using an uncleared sample more than 25 years later. According to the rapper, who sampled Sting’s 1983 single “Every Breath You Take” in his 1997 song “I’ll Be Missing You,” the former Police frontman receives $5,000 in royalties per day. The Notorious B.I.G. tribute “I’ll Be Missing You” became Diddy’s hit, but Sting was not granted permission for the sample until after it was released. The situation has been discussed by Diddy and Sting previously, and Sting seemingly confirmed he receives $2,000 a day from Diddy in a 2018 interview with The Breakfast Club. The appearance included a moment in which Charlamagne tha God asked: “Is it true that Diddy has to pay you two grand a day because he didn’t ask you permission to sample ‘Every Breath You Take?’” Sting deadpanned, “Yeah. For the rest of his life.”
This week, the interview clip remerged on Twitter, and Diddy responded, “Nope, 5K a day. Love my brother @OfficialSting!” Sting noted in his 2018 interview that he and Diddy are “very good friends now,” adding, “It was a beautiful version of that song.” The “Roxanne” singer sold his complete music catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) in early 2022 for around $300 million. UMPG owns the royalties for more than 600 songs, including “Every Breath You Take.” Diddy’s message was in response to an April 5th tweet from Black Millionaires: “Diddy reportedly pays $2,000 a day to the artist Sting for sampling his hit song ‘I’ll be Missing you’ dedicated to rapper Biggie Smalls without permission.” However, the $2,000-a-day figure was derived from a misreading of a 2010 article by Celebrity Net Worth, which quoted a claim made by Sting’s former business manager that “Every Breath You Take” earns him “an average of $2,000 in royalty income every day.” The figure is not just the royalty from “I’ll Be Missing You,” but the total royalties for the song..”
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In 1997, Diddy, who was then known as Puff Daddy, and Faith Evans released a single with R&B group 112 entitled “I’ll Be Missing You” only two months after the death of Diddy’s fellow Bad Boy Records artist (and Evans’ husband) The Notorious B.I.G. Since the rights to sample The Police’s 1983 hit weren’t secured in advance, Sting, the band’s sole owner then, was forced to take legal action, resulting in his getting 100 percent of publishing royalties from “I’ll Be Missing You.” Despite this, Diddy’s track features only Andy Summers’ guitar riff, not Sting’s vocals, with Summers telling A.V. Club in 2012 it was “the major rip-off of all time.” According to a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone, Sting claimed to have earned significant money from the uncleared sample over the years. “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.”
