April 07, (THEWILL) – Entertainment mogul, Sean John Combs, popularly known as Diddy, has been forced to pay musician and actor, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, aka Sting, £4,020 ($5,000) each day for the rest of his life.
The billionaire hip-hop legend is being forced to pay him this for sampling one of Sting’s tracks without permission in 1997.
The sample in question was taken from the hit 1983 single, ‘Every Breath You Take’, which Diddy used in one of his most famous tracks, ‘I’ll Be Missing You”.
He confirmed the hefty fees on Twitter after a 2018 Sting interview re-surfaced and surprisingly, Diddy doesn’t mind.
Sting, who was the front man, songwriter and bassist for new wave rock band, The Police, from 1977 until their breakup in 1986, originally discussed the subject when speaking with ‘The Breakfast Club’ five years ago.
In the video, radio host, Charlamagne the God, asked him, “Is it true that Diddy has to pay you USD $2,000 (£1,608) because he didn’t ask permission to sample ‘Every Breath You Take’?”
To which the 71-year-old former Police member simply replied: “Yep, for the rest of his life.”
Sting also stated that Diddy did ask him for permission to sample the track, but only after he had already released the song.
Diddy, wrote ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ as a tribute to his longtime friend Christopher ‘The Notorious B.I.G.’ Wallace.
Previously discussing his inspiration to write the song, the musician said that he was contemplating quitting the profession after hearing of the passing, however, was motivated after hearing ‘The Police’ song.
“I was ready to quit; I wasn’t gonna put out any more records. Then I was watching TV one day, you know, one of those times of despair where nobody is around, and you’re like crying on the floor,” he said.
“Then I just heard ‘Every Breath You Take’ by The Police. I just took it as a sign. Sometimes you just need that little bit of light to be able to express yourself.”
