"I'll Be Missing You" is based on a sample of the 1983 single "Every Breath You Take" by the Police. It also uses an interpolation of the "Every Breath You Take" melody, sung by Biggie's widow, Faith Evans. Sean John Combs did not secure legal approval for the sample before releasing the song, and Police songwriter Sting sued, receiving 100% of the song royalties, with payments reportedly going until 2053.[2][3] Police guitarist Andy Summers called the sample "a major rip-off", and told the A.V. Club: "I found out about it after it was on the radio ... I’d be walking round Tower Records, and the fucking thing would be playing over and over. It was very bizarre while it lasted."[4] Sting later reconciled with Bad Boy, and performed the song alongside Puff Daddy and Evans in September 1997 at the MTV Video Music Awards.[5][6]
The track also reuses the melody from the hymn “I'll Fly Away”.[4] Combs's verses were actually composed by rapper Sauce Money.[7] Combs had originally asked Jay-Z to write the track, but he turned it down and suggested that Sauce Money write the track instead.[7]
Critical receptionedit
Tom Sinclair from Entertainment Weekly panned the song, giving it a grade of D and describing it as a "maudlin 'tribute' to the Notorious B.I.G., [in which] the late rapper's former mentor (Puff Daddy) and wife (Faith Evans) team up to say their farewells to the big man on a song that 'samples' The Police's 'Every Breath You Take'. With lyrics like 'Know you're in heaven, smiling down/Watching us while we pray for you,' 'I'll Be Missing You' gives the lie to those who claim hip-hoppers are above self-serving sentimentality."[8] British magazine Music Week rated it four out of five, calling it a "dignified tribute".[9] Also James Hyman from RM gave the song four out of five, noting that "once again, blatant plundering from an Eighties groove forms the basis for an instant pop-rap crossover."[10]
David Fricke from Rolling Stone wrote, "In "I'll Be Missing You", he didn't merely crib from Sting; he took a song about stalking and transformed it into a radiant hymn of brotherly love and a community's loss."[11] Freelance music writer Jeremy Simmonds described it as "somewhat turgid".[12] Ian Hyland from Sunday Mirror rated it nine out of ten, commenting, "Not the greatest rap I've ever heard but this tribute to murdered rapper Notorious B.I.G. is going to be H.U.G.E. In a mish-mash of The Police's "Every Breath You Take" and John Waite's "Missing", the highlight is Faith Evans' amazing voice."[13]
Chart performanceedit
"I'll Be Missing You" topped many charts across the world. It reached number one in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Flanders, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
The song debuted at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was the only rap song by a male artist to do so until Eminem's "Not Afraid" debuted at the top spot, thirteen years later, in 2010. The song spent a record-breaking 11 weeks at number one on the Hot 100, making it the longest-running number-one hip hop song in history, until Eminem's "Lose Yourself" spent 12 weeks at number-one in 2002.
The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart at number 32 on July 8, 2007, 10 years after it had its full physical release, and 10 years after it was number one. As of July 2013, "I'll Be Missing You" is the 22nd best-selling song of all time in the UK.[14]
Music videoedit
A music video was made to accompany the song, directed by American director Hype Williams and shot in Chicago. Portions of the video were filmed in the Helmut Jahn designed moving walkway tunnel that connects Concourses B and C in Terminal 1 at the O'Hare International Airport. The hill and motorcycle scene was shot at Sauer Family Prairie Kame Preserve in Elburn, Illinois. The music video was added to BET and MTV on the week ending on May 11, 1997.[15]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Release historyedit
Release dates and formats for "I'll Be Missing You"
^ abSandiford-Waller, Theda (May 31, 1997). "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 22. p. 101. ['I'll Be Missing You'] hits retail on Tuesday (27).
^Lifton, Dave (January 7, 2014). "Sting Earns $2,000 a Day Because Puff Daddy Didn't Say 'Please' Back in 1997". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^Zelmer, Emily (April 7, 2023). "Diddy Actually Does Not Pay Sting $5,000 Per Day For Uncleared Song Sample". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
^ abWhitaker, Sterling (December 26, 2012). "Andy Summers of the Police Calls Puff Daddy's 'I'll Be Missing You' a 'Major Rip-Off'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
^"The 15 most memorable MTV VMAs performances". Business Insider. August 27, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
^Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (July 19, 2018). "Every Breath You Take — Sting's 'nasty little song' was The Police's biggest hit". Financial Times. Retrieved November 19, 2020. Sting, who performed the rap ballad with Puff Daddy at a 1997 awards ceremony, could afford to be more magnanimous.
^ abMarkman, Rob (May 20, 2016). "'I'll Be Missing You': Meet The Rapper Who Actually Wrote Puff Daddy's Biggie Tribute". Genius. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
^"Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. June 7, 1997. p. 8. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
^Hyman, James (June 21, 1997). "Hot Vinyl" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 9. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
^Fricke, David (December 25, 1997-January 8, 1998). "The year in recordings". Rolling Stone. Issue 776/777.
^Simmonds, Jeremy (2008). The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches. Chicago Review Press. p. 369. ISBN 9781556527548.
^Hyland, Ian (June 15, 1997). "Puff Daddy to Hit the B.I.G. Time". Sunday Mirror.
^"Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on July 1, 2013.
^"Video Monitor". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 21. May 24, 1997. p. 97.
^"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112 – I'll Be Missing You". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
^"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112 – I'll Be Missing You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112 – I'll Be Missing You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^"Puff Daddy & Faith Evans feat. 112 – I'll Be Missing You" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
^"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Puff Daddy; 'Tribute To The Notorious B.I.G.')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
^"Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Puff Daddy; 'I'll Be Missing You')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
^"Italian single certifications – Puff Daddy feat. Faith Evans & 112 – I'll Be Missing You" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
^"New Zealand single certifications – Puff Daddy & Faith Evans – I'll Be Missing You". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
^"IFPI Norsk platebransje Trofeer 1993–2011" (in Norwegian). IFPI Norway. Retrieved August 9, 2008.
^"Puff Daddy / Faith Evan's / 112 - I'll Be Missing You". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
^"Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2011. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
^"The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('I'll Be Missing You')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 20, 2008.
^"British single certifications – Puff Daddy ft Faith Evans – I'll Be Missing You". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
^Jeffrey, Don (January 31, 1998). "Best-selling Records of 1997". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 5. p. 76. Retrieved January 5, 2012.