Every Breath You Take
Encyclopedia
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by The Police
on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting and Andy Summers
(but officially credited to Sting only). The single was one of the biggest hits of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100
singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks. Sting won "Song of the Year
" and The Police won "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
" at the Grammy Awards of 1984
for "Every Breath You Take". The song ranked No. 84 on the Rolling Stone
list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 25 on Billboard' s Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. This song is considered to be The Police's signature song
, and in 2010 was estimated to generate between a quarter and a third of Sting's music publishing income.
Sting later said he was disconcerted by how many people think the song is more positive than it is. He insists it's about the obsession with a lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that follows. "One couple told me 'Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!' I thought, 'Well, good luck.'" When asked why he appears angry in the music video
Sting told BBC Radio 2
, "I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song."
According to the Back to Mono box-set book, "Every Breath You Take" is influenced by a Gene Pitney
song titled "Every Breath I Take". The song's structure is a variantion on the Classical rondo
form with its AABACABA structure, a form rarely found in modern popular music. The lyrics are very similar to the opening lines of a short story by science fiction author Judith Merrill titled "Whoever You Are". The chorus appears to borrow heavily from the Leo Sayer
track, "More Than I Can Say", recorded a couple of years before. The lyrics "Every breath I take, every move I make" appear in the song "D'yer Mak'er
" by Led Zeppelin
, recorded ten years earlier in 1973.
"Every Breath You Take" is played by Sting on electric bass, lead vocals, synthesizer, and backing vocals; Andy Summers
on electric guitar and piano; and Stewart Copeland
on drums.
The demo of the song was recorded in an eight track suite in North London's Utopia studios and featured Sting singing over a Hammond organ. While recording, Summers came up with a guitar part inspired by Béla Bartók
that would later become a trademark lick, and played it straight through in one take. He was asked to put guitar onto a simple backing track of bass, drums, and a single vocal, with Sting offering no directive beyond "make it your own."
The recording process was fraught with difficulties as personal tensions between the band members, particularly Sting and Stewart Copeland, came to the fore. Producer Hugh Padgham claimed that by the time of the recording sessions, Sting and Copeland "hated each other", with verbal and physical fights in the studio common. The tensions almost led to the recording sessions being cancelled until a meeting involving the band and the group's manager, Miles Copeland, resulted in an agreement to continue. The drum track was largely created through separate overdubs of each percussive instrument, with the main backbeat created by simultaneously playing a snare and a gong drum. Keyboard parts were added from Roland guitar synthesisers, a Prophet-5 and an Oberheim
synthesiser. The single-note piano in the middle eight was recommended by Padgham, inspired by similar work that he had done with the group XTC.
) that was praised for its black-and-white
cinematography
. Both MTV
(1999) and VH1
(2002) named it as one of the best music videos ever, placing it 16th and 33rd in their respective top 100 lists. Daniel Pearl
won the first MTV cinematography award for his work on the video.
covered the song as an instrumental on Moonlight Shadows in 1986.
The song has been covered by artists including Dilana, UB40
, Tina Arena
, Juliana Hatfield
, Millencolin
, and Copeland
.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
included a polka
interpretation in his medley "Polkas on 45".
Sergio Blass (ex-Menudo
) remade the song as "Siempre Te Amaré" in 1994.
A cover version of the song is used extensively in the 1985 film "Cat's Eye".
The song was also covered in 2004 by UB40 for the 50 First Dates
Soundtrack.
A cover by Mason Dixon
reached #69 on the Hot Country Songs
charts in 1983.
Six months after the release of "Every Breath You Take", singer Ray Parker, Jr.
released the single "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You
", the lyrics of which bore a striking similarity to "Every Breath You Take", even including the lines "Every breath you take, I'll be watching you." "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, and was one of Billboards Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1984
.
A version of the song was used for a sequence at the end of the first series of the satirical puppet show Spitting Image
in mid 1984. The title was altered to "Every Bomb You Make", and alternate lyrics were written by Quentin Reynolds and James Glen. The video featured puppets of several world leaders projected over a setting sun. On the line "I'll be watching you", the puppet of Death
appears. Sting himself performed the re-recording.
In 1994, another parody song was recorded for Tiny Toon Adventures
episode , The Tiny Toon Adventures - Spring Break Special called "I'll Be Chasing You" and it was sung by Elmyra Duff
Sting also riffs on the lyrics in his song "Love Is the Seventh Wave
", singing "Every breath you take/every move you make/every cake you bake/every leg you break..."
In 1999, "Every Breath You Take" was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Century by BMI
. In 2003, VH1 ranked the song the #2 greatest Break-up song of all time. And also as of 2003, Sting was still taking in an average of $2000 per day in royalties for the then 20-year-old song "Every Breath You Take."
Australia's Seven Network
also used a cover version of the song for their bumpers and promotions in 1999. Penn Masala
covered the song, on their fifth studio album, Pehchaan.
In October 2007, Sting was awarded a Million-Air certificate for 9 million airplays of "Every Breath You Take" at the prestigious BMI
Awards show in London
, England
, with only Van Morrison
's "Brown Eyed Girl
" a close second at 8 million air plays.
This song was also featured by the 2008 Nintendo
music simulation game, Wii Music
.
The song's opening riff formed the basis for the 1997 Puff Daddy hit, "I'll Be Missing You
", a tribute to slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
. When the song was played at that year's MTV Video Music Awards
, Sting joined in alongside Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
.
It was covered by Filipino
acoustic band MYMP
in 2006, and again by Filipina diva Jessa Zaragosa
in 2009.
In 2009 it was also covered by David May featuring Kelvin Scott under the title "I'll Be Watching You".
In 2010, Scala & Kolancy Brothers' cover was used on the ITV1 advert for Downton Abbey
In 2011, the song was featured in a scene from "You're Getting Old
"; an episode from the fifteenth season
of the animated television series South Park
.
In 2011 the song was used as the back drop to the presentation of Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas as a new FC Barcelona
football club player. 'Suggesting' Barcelona have been stalking Fabregas for years.
In 2011 David Guetta
used a guitar riff sample of this song for his hit Titanium
featuring Sia
.
: A&M / AM 117
2x7": A&M / AM 117
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting and Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
(but officially credited to Sting only). The single was one of the biggest hits of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks. Sting won "Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
" and The Police won "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals was awarded between 1966 and 2011...
" at the Grammy Awards of 1984
Grammy Awards of 1984
The 26th Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1984, and were broadcast live on American television. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1983...
for "Every Breath You Take". The song ranked No. 84 on the Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and No. 25 on Billboard
Signature song
A signature song is the one song that a popular and well-established singer or band is most closely identified with or best known for, even if they have had success with a variety of songs...
, and in 2010 was estimated to generate between a quarter and a third of Sting's music publishing income.
Origins and songwriting
The lyrics are the words of a sinister, controlling character, who is watching "every breath you take; every move you make".Sting later said he was disconcerted by how many people think the song is more positive than it is. He insists it's about the obsession with a lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that follows. "One couple told me 'Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!' I thought, 'Well, good luck.'" When asked why he appears angry in the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
Sting told BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, "I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song."
According to the Back to Mono box-set book, "Every Breath You Take" is influenced by a Gene Pitney
Gene Pitney
Eugene Francis Alan Pitney, known as Gene Pitney , was an American singer-songwriter, musician and sound engineer. Through the mid-1960s, he enjoyed success as a recording artist on both sides of the Atlantic and was among the group of early 1960s American acts who continued to enjoy hits after the...
song titled "Every Breath I Take". The song's structure is a variantion on the Classical rondo
Rondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
form with its AABACABA structure, a form rarely found in modern popular music. The lyrics are very similar to the opening lines of a short story by science fiction author Judith Merrill titled "Whoever You Are". The chorus appears to borrow heavily from the Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
track, "More Than I Can Say", recorded a couple of years before. The lyrics "Every breath I take, every move I make" appear in the song "D'yer Mak'er
D'yer Mak'er
"D'yer Mak'er" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1973 album Houses of the Holy.-Overview:...
" by Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, recorded ten years earlier in 1973.
"Every Breath You Take" is played by Sting on electric bass, lead vocals, synthesizer, and backing vocals; Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
on electric guitar and piano; and Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
on drums.
The demo of the song was recorded in an eight track suite in North London's Utopia studios and featured Sting singing over a Hammond organ. While recording, Summers came up with a guitar part inspired by Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
that would later become a trademark lick, and played it straight through in one take. He was asked to put guitar onto a simple backing track of bass, drums, and a single vocal, with Sting offering no directive beyond "make it your own."
The recording process was fraught with difficulties as personal tensions between the band members, particularly Sting and Stewart Copeland, came to the fore. Producer Hugh Padgham claimed that by the time of the recording sessions, Sting and Copeland "hated each other", with verbal and physical fights in the studio common. The tensions almost led to the recording sessions being cancelled until a meeting involving the band and the group's manager, Miles Copeland, resulted in an agreement to continue. The drum track was largely created through separate overdubs of each percussive instrument, with the main backbeat created by simultaneously playing a snare and a gong drum. Keyboard parts were added from Roland guitar synthesisers, a Prophet-5 and an Oberheim
Oberheim
Oberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
synthesiser. The single-note piano in the middle eight was recommended by Padgham, inspired by similar work that he had done with the group XTC.
Music video
The song had a music video (directed by duo Godley & CremeGodley & Creme
Godley & Creme were an English pop music duo composed of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing albums as a duo after splitting from the pop band 10cc. In 1979 they directed their first music video for their own single "An Englishman in New York"...
) that was praised for its black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
. Both MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
(1999) and VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
(2002) named it as one of the best music videos ever, placing it 16th and 33rd in their respective top 100 lists. Daniel Pearl
Daniel Pearl (cinematographer)
Daniel Pearl A.S.C. is an American cinematographer who has worked on many feature films, over 400 music videos and more than 250 commercials. His best known work is probably The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its 2003 remake....
won the first MTV cinematography award for his work on the video.
Covers and legacy
The ShadowsThe Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
covered the song as an instrumental on Moonlight Shadows in 1986.
The song has been covered by artists including Dilana, UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...
, Tina Arena
Tina Arena
Filippina Lydia "Tina" Arena is an Australian singer, songwriter and musical theatre actress. She has won several awards, most notably 6 ARIA Awards and in both 1996 and 2000 she received the World Music Award for the world's best selling Australian artist...
, Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, Millencolin
Millencolin
Millencolin is a punk rock band that was formed in October 1992 by Nikola Šarčević, Mathias Färm, and Erik Ohlsson in Örebro, Sweden. In early 1993, drummer Fredrik Larzon joined the band...
, and Copeland
Copeland (band)
Copeland was an indie rock band, originally formed in 2001 by singer Aaron Marsh with his friend, bassist and backup singer James Likeness, in the city of Lakeland, Florida.-Inception:...
.
"Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
included a polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
interpretation in his medley "Polkas on 45".
Sergio Blass (ex-Menudo
Menudo (band)
Menudo was a Puerto Rican boy band that was formed in the 1970s by producer Edgardo Díaz, releasing their first album in 1977. The band achieved much success, especially during the 1980s, becoming the most popular Latin American teen musical group of the era....
) remade the song as "Siempre Te Amaré" in 1994.
A cover version of the song is used extensively in the 1985 film "Cat's Eye".
The song was also covered in 2004 by UB40 for the 50 First Dates
50 First Dates
50 First Dates is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Segal and written by George Wing. The film stars Adam Sandler as a woman-chasing veterinarian and Drew Barrymore as an amnesiac, along with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Lusia Strus, Blake Clark, and Dan Aykroyd.Most of the film...
Soundtrack.
A cover by Mason Dixon
Mason Dixon (band)
Mason Dixon was an American country music trio, composed of Frank Gilligan , Jerry Dengler Rick Henderson . The band played frequently within the Texas nightclub scene for several years and went on to tour the U.S. and Canada for several more.-Career:The group's first single, released in 1983, was...
reached #69 on the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
charts in 1983.
Six months after the release of "Every Breath You Take", singer Ray Parker, Jr.
Ray Parker, Jr.
Ray Erskine Parker, Jr. , is an American guitarist, songwriter, producer and recording artist. Parker is known for writing and performing the theme song to the motion picture Ghostbusters, for his solo hits, and performing with his band Raydio as well as the late Barry White.-Early life and...
released the single "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You
I Still Can't Get Over Loving You
"I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" is a 1983 song written and performed by Ray Parker, Jr.. It was the lead single from his Woman Out of Control album of the same year, and it reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984...
", the lyrics of which bore a striking similarity to "Every Breath You Take", even including the lines "Every breath you take, I'll be watching you." "I Still Can't Get Over Loving You" reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, and was one of Billboards Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1984
Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1984
-See also:*1984 in music*List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1984...
.
A version of the song was used for a sequence at the end of the first series of the satirical puppet show Spitting Image
Spitting Image
Spitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
in mid 1984. The title was altered to "Every Bomb You Make", and alternate lyrics were written by Quentin Reynolds and James Glen. The video featured puppets of several world leaders projected over a setting sun. On the line "I'll be watching you", the puppet of Death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
appears. Sting himself performed the re-recording.
In 1994, another parody song was recorded for Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures
Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, usually referred to as Tiny Toon Adventures or simply Tiny Toons, is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. It began production as a result of Warner Bros....
episode , The Tiny Toon Adventures - Spring Break Special called "I'll Be Chasing You" and it was sung by Elmyra Duff
Elmyra Duff
Elmyra Jessica Duff is a cartoon character from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. She is one of the main characters from the show. Elmyra is voiced by Cree Summer in all of her appearances...
Sting also riffs on the lyrics in his song "Love Is the Seventh Wave
Love Is the Seventh Wave
"Love Is the Seventh Wave" was the second single and second track from Sting's 1985 solo debut album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. The song is supposedly about love being the seventh wave, or the strongest wave in a series of waves, thus wiping out any sort of problems...
", singing "Every breath you take/every move you make/every cake you bake/every leg you break..."
In 1999, "Every Breath You Take" was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Century by BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
. In 2003, VH1 ranked the song the #2 greatest Break-up song of all time. And also as of 2003, Sting was still taking in an average of $2000 per day in royalties for the then 20-year-old song "Every Breath You Take."
Australia's Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
also used a cover version of the song for their bumpers and promotions in 1999. Penn Masala
Penn Masala
Penn Masala is the world's first and premier Hindi a cappella group, formed in 1996 by students at the University of Pennsylvania. Penn Masala’s music has been influenced by the Eastern and Western cultures that represent the group’s membership...
covered the song, on their fifth studio album, Pehchaan.
In October 2007, Sting was awarded a Million-Air certificate for 9 million airplays of "Every Breath You Take" at the prestigious BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
Awards show in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, with only Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Brown Eyed Girl
Brown Eyed Girl
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison. Written and recorded in 1967 by Van Morrison and produced by Bang Records chief Bert Berns, it was first released in May 1967 on the album Blowin' Your Mind!. When released as a single, it rose to number eight on the...
" a close second at 8 million air plays.
This song was also featured by the 2008 Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
music simulation game, Wii Music
Wii Music
is a free form music game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. The game was released in Japan and North America in October 2008, and in Europe and Australia in the following month...
.
The song's opening riff formed the basis for the 1997 Puff Daddy hit, "I'll Be Missing You
I'll Be Missing You
"I'll Be Missing You" is a Grammy Award-winning song and hit single recorded by Puff Daddy, Faith Evans and 112, in memory of fellow Bad Boy Records artist Christopher "Notorious B.I.G" Wallace who was murdered on March 9, 1997...
", a tribute to slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
The Notorious B.I.G.
Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
. When the song was played at that year's MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, Sting joined in alongside Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
Faith Evans
Faith Renée Evans is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, record producer, actress and author. Born in Florida and raised in New Jersey, Evans relocated to Los Angeles during 1993 for a career with the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al B...
.
It was covered by Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
acoustic band MYMP
MYMP
M.Y.M.P. is an acoustic band act from the Philippines, which consists of five members. Their career started when Raymond Ryan, a station manager of iFm watched one of their gigs, and met up with a producer to produce their 2003 debut album, Soulful Acoustic, which has since been certified...
in 2006, and again by Filipina diva Jessa Zaragosa
Jessa Zaragosa
Richelle Ann Loyola known by her stagename Jessa Zaragoza is a Filipino singer and actress of Spanish Filipino descent.She was born in .-Personal life:She is married to Filipino singer Dingdong Avanzado...
in 2009.
In 2009 it was also covered by David May featuring Kelvin Scott under the title "I'll Be Watching You".
In 2010, Scala & Kolancy Brothers' cover was used on the ITV1 advert for Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
In 2011, the song was featured in a scene from "You're Getting Old
You're Getting Old
"You're Getting Old" is the seventh episode and mid-season finale of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 216th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 8, 2011...
"; an episode from the fifteenth season
South Park (season 15)
The fifteenth season of South Park, an American animated television series, began airing on April 27, 2011 and ended on November 16, 2011. In response to reactions to the mid-season finale episode "You're Getting Old", which seemed to insinuate that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were wrapping...
of the animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
.
In 2011 the song was used as the back drop to the presentation of Francesc "Cesc" Fàbregas as a new FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
football club player. 'Suggesting' Barcelona have been stalking Fabregas for years.
In 2011 David Guetta
David Guetta
Pierre David Guetta , known professionally as David Guetta , is a French house music producer and DJ. Originally a DJ at nightclubs during the 1980s and 1990s, he co-founded Gum Productions and released his first album, Just a Little More Love, in 2002. Later, he released Guetta Blaster and Pop Life...
used a guitar riff sample of this song for his hit Titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
featuring Sia
Sia
-People:*Sia Berkeley , British actress*Sia Figiel , Samoan novelist, poet and painter*Sia Furler , Australian singer...
.
Track listing
7"- "Every Breath You Take" – 4:13
- "Murder By Numbers" – 4:31
2x7"
- "Every Breath You Take" – 4:13
- "Murder By Numbers" – 4:31
- "Man In A Suitcase" (live) – 2:18
- "Truth Hits Everybody '83" -3:34
- rare 2x7" single
Personnel
- Sting – lead and backing vocals, electric bass
- Andy SummersAndy SummersAndy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
– electric guitar, piano and keyboards - Stewart CopelandStewart CopelandStewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
– drums
Chart positions
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart | 8 |
| Belgian Radio 2 Radio 2 (Belgium) Radio 2 is a Belgian radio channel operated by the Flemish public broadcaster Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep .In contrast to the more formal VRT Radio 1, Radio 2 features a more populist schedule aimed at a general family audience and is currently one of the most popular radio stations in... Top 30 Singles |
8 |
| Canada RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Top 50 Singles |
1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart | 8 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 3 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 6 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 2 |
| South African Springbok Radio Top 20 | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 6 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States... |
5 |
| US Billboard Dance/Disco Top 80 | 26 |
| US Billboard Top Tracks | 1 |
| US Cash Box Top 100 | 1 |
| Country | Date | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
1983 | Silver |
| United States Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
1983 | Gold |
See also
- List of number-one singles of 1983 (Ireland)
- List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
- List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1983 (U.S.)
- List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)