When British rock group The Police recorded “Every Breath You Take” in 1983 for their “Synchronicity” album, they probably didn’t realize they were releasing a song that would go down in the annals of music history. As it turns out “Every Breath You Take” was the biggest single in the U.S. and the U.K. for the entire year of 1983 and was on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for a whopping eight weeks. Incidentally, it was The Police’s only hit to make that chart. In the U.K., it stayed at number one on the Singles Chart for four weeks. “Every Breath You Take” received three Grammy Award nominations at the 26th Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year. The song won Grammy’s for Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
“Every Breath You Take” is considered to be both Sting’s and The Police’s signature song and estimates suggest that in 2010, this song alone generated between 25 and 33 percent of Police lead singer Sting’s music publishing income. In the U.S., it was the fifth best-selling single of the 1980s. Speaking of Sting, he received the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically in 1983. As of May 2019, BMI recognized “Every Breath You Take” as the most played song in radio history. As if all of this weren’t enough, Rolling Stone ranked this song at number 84 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
This beautiful song is also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. BMI CEO and President Mike O’Neill said that the success of “Every Breath You Take” is a “remarkable achievement that solidifies its place in songwriting history.” Sting wrote the song in 1982 following the breakup of his marriage to Frances Tomelty. He was beginning a new relationship with the lady who would become his longtime wife, so his marriage ending at the same time was controversial. In fact, his new love, Trudie, was best friends with his soon-to-be-ex-wife. To pull himself out of the public eye for a while, Sting retreated to the peaceful Caribbean, where he began writing “Every Breath You Take” at Ian Fleming’s writing desk in Oracabessa, Jamaica.
While this song has a sad story behind it, many people see it as a positive song, and Sting is puzzled by that. He says when he wrote it, he didn’t realize how sinister it is. In his mind, he was thinking of “Big Brother, surveillance, and control,” he says. Whatever the intent, it’s a legendary song. Below, a youth orchestra and band sings it beautifully.
