The BBC has reported today that former members of rock band The Police have had a development in proceedings over songwriting credits, with claims concerning songs written nearly 50 years ago. Frontman Sting has been caught in a legal battle with his former partners about overdue royalties, with court documents showing he made payments in excess of £500,000.

Singer and bassist Sting, whose real name is Gordon Sumner, formed The Police in London in 1977 with American drummer Stewart Copeland. The final line-up of the band was completed with guitarist Andy Summers joining. They performed as a three-piece for their full catalogue of 5 studio albums, before going on hiatus in 1984, and fully splitting in 1986. Citing personal differences for the rift, Summers and Copeland went on to have successes in other pursuits, while Sting went on to become a British icon through his solo works.

As the lead songwriter for The Police, Sting took his gifts and went on to win masses of accolades, including three BRIT Awards, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and a CBE from Queen Elizabeth II. In addition, he pursued acting roles, appearing in films such as David Lynch’s ‘Dune’ adaptation, and Guy Ritchie’s ‘Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels’.

It is Sting’s prolific talent as a songwriter and composer that has led to the ongoing legal discourse. Since starting their careers together in 1977 and writing their first singles, almost everything was credited solely to Sting. 1978 debut album ‘Outlandos d’Amour’, which yielded hit ‘Roxanne’ only lists Summers and Copeland as co-writers on one song apiece. Later standouts like 1983’s ‘Every Breath You Take’, which was number one in multiple countries, does not list Summers as a writer, despite him claiming to have composed the guitar parts for it.

To ensure fairness, the three of them made a verbal agreement in 1977 to share earnings from their music, but this was not made legally binding until revised contracts later in their careers. The agreement dictated that whenever one member received royalties from a song they had written, they would give each of the other two members 15% of the income on average. This deal typically resulted in Sting giving a share to Summers and Copeland, who were reliant on him to pay up.

In September 2025, both Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers began legal proceedings against Sting to reclaim lost royalties across all their music from 1977 to 1984. In the claim, Sting is alleged to owe money earned through public plays, music streaming and digital sales, but his legal team contests this with the assertion that the band’s agreement only covered physical sales. The band made a new compromise in 2016 on how to handle payments, with a consensus that the three of them would not pursue legal recompense for any past or future issues. The team representing Copeland and Summers state that due to the evolution of streaming and music consumption, they are entitled to a bigger cut than they’ve received.

The initial lawsuit set out to recover estimated losses of £1.5 million, but according to court papers seen today, Sting and his representatives have paid $870,000 (£647,000). With the second day of the preliminary hearing taking place tomorrow, neither side seems to be ceding ground. The side of Copeland and Summers are disappointed that the recent payment doesn’t cover what they call “historic underpayment”, while Sting’s lawyers continue to argue that streaming plays do not count for their existing arrangements.

The two shows will be part of the singer’s ‘Sting 3.0 World Tour’, which has seen Sting perform to crowds across Europe and North America this year and will continue well into next year as the singer will perform to thousands of fans across Latin America, Europe and the UK. The first intimate show will take place on Friday October 24 at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, while the second will be held at the prestigious Eventim Apollo on October 26 in Hammersmith.

With a career spanning over five decades, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, known professionally as Sting, has had a pivotal presence within the music industry due to his contributions to the genres of classic rock and new wave. He most notably acted as the frontman, bassist and main songwriter for prominent new wave band the Police between 1977 and 1986.  The band have been coined one of the pioneers of new wave, given the six Number 1 albums and 5 UK number 1 singles under their belt. Their tracks: ‘Message In A Bottle’, ‘Walking On The Moon’, ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’, ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’ and ‘Every Breath You Take’ all respectively claimed the Number 1 spot on the UK Official Singles Chart and decades later are still enjoyed by new and old fans alike. As a soloist, Sting has sonically experimented within the genres of rock, jazz, reggae and classical – which have been paramount to his evolution as an artist.

The now-73-year-old evidently has no foreseeable plans for slowing down on his busy schedule. Alongside, his world tour next year, he will be performing massive headline sets at Latitude Festival, Isle of Wight Festival, Tetbury Forest Live, Cannock Forest Live and Cardiff Depot Live.

This string of outdoor gigs will juxtapose the two more intimate shows taking place in London during the month of October. More and more artists are favouring intimate shows as they allow for a more exclusive and sincere experience between musicians and their fans. For instance, Iggy Pop recently announced a smaller show at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse while Rod Stewart unveiled his future tours will see him perform exclusively smaller shows due to his age and health. The dynamic of smaller shows allow artists to give stripped back renditions of their bigger shows. Sting’s upcoming intimate show will allow fans to emotionally connect with the singer whilst hearing his most prominent tracks.

The ‘Fields of Gold’ singer’s intimate shows in London went on presale to Sting.com members on December 3 at 9am GMT, while general sale will commence on December 6 at 10am GMT. Tickets are available to purchase here.

My new album “The Bridge” will be out November 19.
Pre-order your copy here: https://t.co/GfJk8XjNLM

And stream the first single, “If It’s Love,” here: https://t.co/Qt27B3Gpbo pic.twitter.com/axr8Ow3KXI

— Sting (@OfficialSting) September 1, 2021

Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE  is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor known musically as Sting. Sting’s musical career spans 44 years and he came to the attention of the music world as the frontman (Lead vocals and bass guitarist) of the popular group The Police in 1977. The Police’s band lineup also included Andy Summers (Guitar) and Stewart Copeland (Drums and percussion). The group released their debut album Outlandos d’Amour in 1978 and achieved success with popular singles from the album “Roxanne” and “Can’t Stand Losing You”.

The group went on to release number 1 singles “Message In A Bottle” and “Walking On The Moon” from their second studio album and first number one album Reggatta de Blanc released in 1979. The band also achieved critical and commercial success with their singles “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “Message In A Bottle”. The group disbanded in 1984 following their last studio album Synchronicity and achieved a UK number 1 single and only US number 1 single with their timeless classic “Every Breath You Take”. Throughout their career, The Police achieved 5 UK number 1 singles and 6 UK number 1 albums in the UK Official Charts.

The singer embarked on his solo career in 1985 following the disbandment of The Police and continued his musical success with his debut album The Dream of the Blue Turtles released in 1985.  The musician went on to release his popular singles “Nothing Like The Sun”, “We’ll Be Together”, “Be Still My Beating Heart”, “Fragile” and “Englishman In New York” at the beginning of his solo career.

The singer’s last album release was his album My Songs released in 2019, at the time of release the musician said “My Songs’ is my life in songs. Some of them reconstructed, some of them refitted, some of them reframed, but all of them with a contemporary focus”

Watch the video for the singer’s single “Shape Of My Heart” originally released in 1993 and featured on his 2019 album My Songs here.

In stark contrast, the singer’s new album The Bridge is said to focus on “Personal loss, separation, disruption, lockdown, and social and political turmoil” In preparation for his album release the singer launched his web series On The Bridge on September 28th, the web series details the musician’s everyday life and was made available exclusively on Sting.com for his followers every Tuesday at 09.00 am (Eastern Time/ET). Viewing for wider audiences was then made available on Wednesday’s at 09.00 am (Eastern Time/ET).  The web series On The Bridge’s series finale is today November 19th the same day as the singer’s album release.

*On The Bridge – Season Finale* Hope you’ve enjoyed Season One of “On The Bridge”. Be sure to check out ‘The Bridge’ this Friday, November 19! pic.twitter.com/SxemUuhHov — Sting (@OfficialSting) November 17, 2021

The singer produced his new album with Martin Kierszenbaum, except the single “Loving You” from the album, which was produced by the singer, Maya Jane Coles and Martin Kierszenbaum. The Bridge is available in standard cd format and vinyl as a 10 single album. There is also a deluxe edition of the album with 3 additional bonus singles and Japanese SHM-CD+DVD with 4 additional bonus tracks. As well as releasing the first single “If It’s Love” from the album on September 1st, the singer also released the second single “Rushing Water” from the album on September 30th and said that “The song ‘Rushing Water’ is a fitting start to an album that seeks to bridge all of the petty differences that can separate us”

The musician has recently returned to performing live and returned to the stage in Scilly on September 1st and also performed in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens on both September 30th and October 1st. The singer started his My Songs: Las Vegas Residency on October 29 at the famous Caesars Palace and follows in the musical footsteps of UK artists Sir Elton John, Matt Goss and Sir Rod Stewart.

The singer will also be performing in the UK at the London Palladium in April for his postponed My Songs Tour and is set to perform from April 15th through to April 21st. The musician expressed his delight to be returning to UK soil by saying “Having travelled the world with the My Songs tour, I’m delighted to bring it home to the UK next year and to perform again at such a historic venue” The singer’s followers can also enjoy his new album release The Bridge out today November 19th.

See the tracklist for Sting’s new album The Bridge: Deluxe Edition below, listen to and order the album here 

Rushing Water
If It’s Love
The Book of Numbers
Loving You
Harmony Road
For Her Love
The Hills on the Border
Captain Bateman
The Bells of St. Thomas
The Bridge
Waters of Tyne (Deluxe bonus track)
Captain Bateman’s Basement (Deluxe bonus track)
(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (Deluxe bonus track)
I Guess the Lord Must Be In New York City *(Japanese exclusive bonus track)

See the dates for Sting’s London Palladium dates for his My Songs Tour below and buy tickets here

15/04/22 The London Palladium
16/04 The London Palladium
17/04 The London Palladium
19/04 The London Palladium
20/04 The London Palladium
21/04 The London Palladium

The single is a gentle track with a melodic vocal line and harmonies, with an instrumental which revolves around the drums. Co-written and performed by the two artists, it follows a number of duets which are likely to be included on the album with the likes of Melody Gardot and Shaggy.

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‘Little Something’ featuring American jazz singer Melody Gardot premiered in September 2020 with a beautiful latin feel to the rhythm and some stunning jazz chords. From what’s been shared so far from the album, it’s clear that there will be a versatile range of songs.

Sting has worked with ‘It Wasn’t Me’ creator Shaggy numerous times in the past, working on their collaboration album ’44/876′ together in 2018 and continuing to share more tracks since then. Most recently, the pair released a song together which samples the ’80s track ‘Angel Of The Morning’ by Juice Newton.

Confirmed to feature on the album are Gashi, Eric Clapton, Annie Lennox, Herbie Hancock, and more, so fans have a lot to look forward to. Initially, the release date for ‘Duets’ was today, but it was postponed last week due to unforeseen delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic interfering with manufacturing. Sting took to Instagram to explain this, but confirmed that ‘September’ would still be available early.

A statement released by Brandon Bakshi of the BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) said:

“Sting is an icon in the truest sense of the word.

“His musical catalogue has had an enormous impact on music lovers from around the globe across multiple generations.”

Sting is no stranger to awards, receiving 16 Grammy Awards spanning over three decades including two for ‘Every Breath You Take’ in 1984 and two for this 2000 album Brand New Day. As an actor Sting (real name Gordon Sumner) has also had three nominations for Academy Awards and first starred as The Bell Boy in the iconic 1979 film Quadrophenia featuring music from The Who.

Since Quadrophenia, Sting acted in many other roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s including the 1998 classic Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

To prove (as if there was any doubt) his iconic status, see Sting’s extensive discography with The Police, and as solo artist, below:
The Police

Outlandos d’Amour (1978)
Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
Ghost in the Machine (1981)
Synchronicity (1983)

Solo

The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985)
…Nothing Like the Sun (1987)
The Soul Cages (1991)
Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993)
Mercury Falling (1996)
Brand New Day (1999)
Sacred Love (2003)
Songs from the Labyrinth (2006)
If on a Winter’s Night… (2009)
Symphonicities (2010)
The Last Ship (2013)

Sting is to add to this discography by releasing a further album entitled 57th & 9th in November.

Watch ‘Every Breath You Take’, below: