Stewart Copeland: “The Police’s night at the Hall of Fame is sad”

In 2003 i Police they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In a new documentary, as reported by The Independent, the drummer Stewart Copeland Looking back on that evening, he said he felt “heartbroken” and felt a sense of “sadness” after The Police were inducted into the Hall of Fame.

THE Police – Sting, Andy Summers And Stewart Copeland – they performed, after several years, on March 10, 2023 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inclusion ceremony was held, playing “Every Breath You Take”, “Roxanne” And “Message in a Bottle”.

In the documentary, entitled
“Copeland”
Stewart looked back on that event and admitted that he found it somewhat disappointing, as it didn’t turn out to be the celebratory evening he expected it to be. The drummer revealed that i
Police
they had rehearsed before the ceremony, but a strange atmosphere reigned between them in the rehearsal room. “We hadn’t seen each other for decades, the rehearsals were a bit strange. We played our three songs, after we played them, I turned around and saw Andy gone one way, Sting gone the other way. I headed towards the stage and joined my family… I never saw the Police again that night. Doesn’t that mean anything? Come on, guys. I never saw them again.”

The relationships between the three musicians are not the simplest, a legal dispute has been ongoing for some time now: last year Summers and Copeland sued
Sting
and its publishing house for “extensive damages”, after years of other legal disputes within the group. The two argue that

Sting
owes them between $2 million and $10.75 million in unpaid royalties, with lawyers for Summers and Copeland adding that their claim could increase further since the payments do not include interest.

Earlier this year, it emerged that
Sting
he would have paid his former comrades gods
Police
over $800,000 in royalties since they filed the lawsuit in September.
Sting
However, he has repeatedly denied that his bandmates are entitled to a portion of his earnings from streaming or downloads, arguing that such formats should be classified as “public performance” rather than sales. His lawyers also rejected the two musicians’ claims, claiming they were “overpaid”.

Stewart Copeland
And
Andy Summers
they did not receive any recognition for composing some of the hits
Police
including
“Every Breath You Take”
a song that apparently yields a
Sting
as much as $500,000 a year in royalties. While they are not credited, they claim to be entitled to compensation for “arrangements” resulting from the “digital exploitation” of the band’s catalogue.