Sting and Andy Summers Are Still Fighting Over Songwriting Credit for The Police’s Grammy-Winning Hit “Every Breath You Take”

“Every Breath You Take” was a massive hit when The Police released it in May of 1983. It went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for eight weeks. Additionally, the song brought the band a pair of Grammys. It won Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. More than that, it became the most-played song in radio history. In short, it is the biggest song Sting ever wrote.

However, Sting shouldn’t hold sole writing credit for the massive hit. At least, that’s what The Police guitarist Andy Summers says. In fact, the guitarist has been fighting for writing credit on the song for years. Recently, Summers talked about contention around the hit song on The Jeremy White Show. He was on the podcast to promote his current multimedia tour called The Cracked Lens + The Missing String.

During the interview, White asked the guitarist about songwriting credits on the massive hit. “It’s a very contentious topic that is very much alive at the moment,” he replied. Then, he went on to explain why he deserves partial credit for the track.

[RELATED: The REAL Story Behind The Song: The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” by Sting]

“That song was going in the trash until I played on it, and that’s all there is to it. And I think that’s composition, absolutely,” Summers revealed.

“Every Breath You Take” was contentious from the beginning. Summers explained that the song didn’t originally have a guitar part. Furthermore, Sting and Stewart Copeland couldn’t agree on how the drums and bass line should sound in the song. As a result, they were ready to scrap it. However, they needed something to fill space on Synchronicity.

“We needed material [for the album],” Summers said. Then, he recounted the famous story of the song. “The famous story of the song is Sting turned to me and said, ‘Well go on. Go in there in make it your own.’ And of course, I had all this sort of stuff under my fingers. I was The Police’s stock artist guitarist if you like,” he recalled. “I went in and I got that lick almost, it was like one take. Everyone stood up and cheered.”

Summers didn’t go into detail about what he’s doing to get credit for his part in writing the song. However, he hinted that a legal battle may be on the horizon. “Watch the press. Let’s see what happens in the next year,” he said.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images