| This was the biggest hit of 1983. It was US #1
for 8 weeks. |
| This is one of the most misinterpreted songs
ever. It is about an obsessive stalker, but it sounds like a love
song. Some people even used it as their wedding song. |
| Sting wrote this after separating from his
first wife, Frances Tomelty. |
| The recording process created a great deal of
tension in the studio. Sting was very particular about his song and
would not let the other members of The Police (Andy Summers and
Stuart Copeland) do much with it. The Police broke up after this
album. |
| The middle of the song was finished last. They
didn't know what to do with it until Sting sat at a piano and
started hitting the same key over and over. That became the basis
for the missing section. |
| Sting knew this would be the band's biggest
hit when he wrote it. |
| This won Grammys in 1984 for Song Of The Year
and Best Pop Performance By Duo Or Group With Vocal. |
| At the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1983,
this won for Best Cinematography. |
| P. Diddy (known as Puff Daddy at the time),
sampled this on "I'll Be Missing You," his 1997 tribute to rapper
Notorious B.I.G. Sting didn't know about the sample until after the
song was released. He ended up making lots of money from it,
claiming he put some of his kids through college with the proceeds.
Sting performed "I'll Be Missing You" with P. Diddy at the MTV Video
Music Awards, and the two remain friends. |
| Sting performed this on a 2001 episode of
Ally McBeal. In the show, he was sued by a couple who broke up
after one of his sexually suggestive concerts. |
| Robert Downey Jr., who was on Ally McBeal
at the time, recorded a duet of this with Sting for an album from
the show called For Once In My Life. Downey was arrested and
sent back to drug rehab soon after it was released. |
| This appears on the soundtrack of the 1999
Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride. |
| The Police performed this when they were
inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2003. They were
inducted by No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani, who showed a picture
of her getting an autograph from Sting when she was a chubby
13-year-old. It was the last performance of the night and the
closest thing to the all-star jam that typically ends the
ceremonies. The Police were joined by Stefani, Steven Tyler (who
inducted AC/DC), and John Mayer, who had recently won a Grammy for
his song "Your Body Is A Wonderland." |
| Sting re-wrote the lyrics when he performed
this in 2005 at Live 8, a set of concerts organized by Bob Geldof to
increase activism and demand more aid for Africa. Sting included the
line, "We'll be watching you" to mean the world would be keeping an
eye on the politicians making critical decisions on the fate of
Africa. |
