Diddy 'I'll Be Missing You' sampling revisited

94.7 WCSX on May 20 revisited one of pop music’s best-known copyright fights: Sean “Diddy” Combs’ 1997 single “I’ll Be Missing You” and its use of the melody from the Police hit “Every Breath You Take.” The tribute record, released after the March 1997 killing of the Notorious B.I.G., became a commercial blockbuster for Combs, Faith Evans and 112. It also became tied to a dispute over whether permission had been secured before release and who ultimately collected the money generated by the sample. (ultimateclassicrock.com) WCSX’s account focused on the legal and financial afterlife of a song that remained central to Combs’ music-business legacy. (wcsx.com) ### Which part of the Police song was at the center of the dispute? Andy Summers, the Police guitarist, has said the part lifted for “I’ll Be Missing You” was his guitar figure from “Every Breath You Take.” In a 2021 interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Summers said his son first alerted him that another artist was “completely doing your guitar thing,” and he later described the matter as ending in a settlement. Sting was the sole credited songwriter on “Every Breath You Take,” a distinction that mattered once the dispute moved from the studio to royalties. (wcsx.com) Ultimate Classic Rock reported that Sting was eventually awarded 100% of the publishing royalties from “I’ll Be Missing You,” while Summers said “we didn’t get anything” from Puff Daddy for the sample. ### Did Combs have permission before “I’ll Be Missing You” came out? Sting said in a 2018 interview cited by Music Business Worldwide that Combs did not ask permission before using “Every Breath You Take.” The outlet reported that the sample was cleared after release, not before it. (ultimateclassicrock.com) The financial terms have long been the subject of rumor. Music Business Worldwide reported in 2023 that Combs publicly claimed he paid Sting $5,000 a day, then said he was joking; the outlet said the true licensing figure remained unclear. (ultimateclassicrock.com) Sting had said in a 2018 interview that Combs was paying him $2,000 a day “for the rest of his life,” according to the same report. ### How big was “I’ll Be Missing You” as a hit? “I’ll Be Missing You” became one of 1997’s biggest singles. (musicbusinessworldwide.com) Billboard’s chart records show the song spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, and reporting on the 1998 Grammy Awards shows it won best rap performance by a duo or group. The original Police song was already one of the most lucrative compositions in modern pop. BMI said in 2019 that “Every Breath You Take” had logged nearly 15 million radio plays and would be honored as the most performed song in the organization’s repertoire. (musicbusinessworldwide.com) ### Why did Sting, not Summers, end up at the center of the payout story? Sting’s position came from authorship credits, not from performing the sampled guitar line. Ultimate Classic Rock reported that because Sting alone was credited as songwriter on “Every Breath You Take,” he was the rights holder who received the publishing income tied to the reused composition. (billboard.com) Summers has publicly objected to that outcome for years. In the 2021 interview, he said the sampled element was his part and said the track sold about 30 million singles, though he added that he and the band “didn’t get anything out of it.” That sales figure was Summers’ characterization. (sting.com) ### Why is the song still being revisited in 2026? WCSX’s May 20 feature returned to the dispute because “Every Breath You Take” remains a durable catalog song and because the Combs recording remains a textbook case in post-release sample clearance. (ultimateclassicrock.com) The station has also continued publishing material on related royalty issues involving Sting, Summers and Stewart Copeland. The next place readers can track the story is WCSX’s music coverage and archived interviews with the Police members and Sting. Those accounts, together with BMI’s public records on “Every Breath You Take,” remain the clearest published trail for the dispute’s legal and financial history. (ultimateclassicrock.com) (wcsx.com)