"It doesn’t taint the song at all for me" — Sting says "Every Breath You Take" is still his song despite Diddy scandal

Sting recently stated that Every Breath You Take would still be his song despite its ties with Sean "Diddy" Combs. For those unaware, Combs sampled the song on the 1997 track I’ll Be Missing You.

Written by Sting, Every Breath You Take was a massive success upon its release in 1983, gaining popularity not only in the United States but also in Canada. It was later sampled on the 1997 track, featuring Diddy, Faith Evans, and R&B group 112.

During the interview with the Los Angeles Times published on November 11, Sting revealed that Combs' connection with the song wouldn't "taint" the classic. He added:

"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."

He also mentioned that fans love hearing this song even today. The 1983 song topped the UK Singles Chart for about four weeks and secured the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in the US. Additionally, it ranked in the top 10 of several other charts in countries such as Belgium, Austria, Germany, Israel, Norway, and Sweden, to name a few.

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Sting once revealed Diddy had to pay $2,000 every day for sampling the 1983 classic track

Sting previously spoke about Diddy's association with his classic song back in 2018 during an appearance on The Breakfast Club podcast. During the conversation, he shared that the music mogul had to pay him $2,000 every day due to sampling of Every Breath You Take for I’ll Be Missing You.

Sting, aka Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, also explained that he had been good friends with Combs and described the 1997 song as a "beautiful" version of the classic. Last year in April, Combs reshared the clip of Sting's statement and claimed that he had to pay $5,000 instead of $2,000.

However, two days later, Diddy tweeted again on X, stating that he was joking in his previous tweet about Sting. In the tweet dated April 7, 2023, Combs wrote:

"I want y’all to understand I was joking! It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You..."

In the same tweet, Combs also claimed that Sting possibly made over $5,000 every day from the 1983 classic.

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Puff Daddy and Faith Evans released I'll Be Missing You in 1997 as a part of the album No Way Out. As per Rolling Stone, this track was a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. The song became a hit, topping charts in several countries, including Belgium, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Iceland, and a lot more.

The 1997 track also secured the number one spot on the US charts, like the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.