P. Diddy and Sting Battle over Hit Tracks

Diddy & Sting

According to a fascinating report on CelebrityNetWorth.com, there was a royalty battle between Puff Daddy and Sting over their hit tracks “Every Breath You Take” and “I’ll Be Missing You”.

 

Artiste Sting's classic ballad about an unhealthy obsession with a lost love, “Every Breath You Take” was one of the biggest hits of 1983.

In 1997, "Every Breath You Take" received a huge re-boot in popularity when Puff Daddy remixed the song as his tribute to the late rapper Notorious BIG in "I'll Be Missing You".

Puff Daddy's version would go on to win a Grammy and be certified as one of the bestselling singles of all time with more 7 million copies sold worldwide.

 

Unfortunately for Diddy, no one from his label, Bad Boy Records, thought to secure Sting's permission to sample the 1983 pop song for the updated 1997 remix.

Had Diddy asked permission first, he likely would have been required to hand over just 25% of I'll Be Missing You's publishing royalties to Sting.

 

But by forgetting to ask permission before the song was released, Sting was able to demand and receive 100% of the remix's publishing royalties, which is nearly $2000 per day.

 

And Sting gets all of it, reportedly, until 2053, when he’ll be 102 years old, should he live that long.