Sting Sued by Former Police Bandmates Over Lost Royalties

Sting is reportedly facing legal action from his former bandmates in The Police, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland, over unpaid royalties that have further fractured relations within the group.

The case follows years of legal disputes between the trio, with Summers and Copeland accusing Sting – real name Gordon Sumner – of mishandling royalties they claim were owed to them. Proceedings are now set to be heard at the High Court in London.

According to The Sun, the pair are seeking “substantial” damages, allegedly amounting to millions of pounds. A source told the newspaper: “Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate,” prompting the case to be formally listed for trial at the High Court.

Court documents confirm that Sting has been served with a writ. The case, filed under “general commercial contracts and arrangements”, also names his publishing company, Magnetic Publishing Limited, as a defendant.

The legal row comes decades after Sting split from Summers and Copeland in the mid-1980s, following the group’s enormous global success in the preceding decade.

Tensions within the band date back to their time together, with Copeland once reflecting: “Looking back, I’m grateful that we got at least five albums, because, really, it was over after the third album. After Zenyatta Mondatta, which was the first time the tension started to appear, and by the time we got to Montserrat for Ghost in the Machine, it was hell on Earth.”

The exact details of the case remain unclear, and none of the parties – Sting, Summers or Copeland – has yet made a public comment on the matter.