The 53-year-old hip hop star has confirmed he pays the 71-year-old musician a five-figure sum, after sampling the 1983 Police song on his 1997 hit track 'I'll Be Missing You'.
- April 6, 2023
AceShowbiz - Sean "P. Diddy" Combs forks out $5,000 a day to Sting after sampling his tune "Every Breath You Take" without permission. The 53-year-old hip hop star has confirmed he pays the 71-year-old musician a five-figure sum, after sampling the 1983 Police song on his 1997 hit track "I'll Be Missing You".
Diddy confirmed the figure on Twitter in response to a tweet suggesting he pays $2,000 a day to Sting for sampling the song without permission. He wrote, "Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting (sic)."
A resurfaced clip of Sting's 2018 interview with "The Breakfast Club" also emerged, in which Sting says Diddy only asked for permission after release. He says, "We're very good friends now. It was a beautiful version of that song."
Diddy's iconic tune is dedicated to The Notorious B.I.G. - whose real name was Christopher Wallace, but he was also known as Biggie Smalls - who was murdered in March 1997 aged 24. The track is performed by Diddy and Biggie's widow, US singer Faith Evans, and is based on a sample of The Police's 1983 song "Every Breath You Take".
Last month, Diddy paid tribute to Biggie, describing him as the "greatest rapper of all time" on the 26th anniversary of his death. He tweeted, "There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME. Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!! (sic)". Biggie was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in March 1997, just six months after fellow rapper Tupac Shakur was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
