Why is Sting being sued by former bandmates? Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland's lawsuit against the legendary frontman explored

The Police frontman Sting had reportedly been sued by his former bandmates, particularly by guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland. The lawsuit is based on allegations surrounding "millions of pounds in lost royalties." A source told The Sun that this suit had been coming for quite some time now. According to the source,

"This has been coming for quite some time. Lawyers tried repeatedly to reach an out-of-court settlement but hit a stalemate. Andy and Stewart decided there was no alternative than court so pressed the button. They say they are owed millions in lost royalties."

According to reports by The Sun, the suit had been filed at London's High Court under "general commercial contracts and arrangements." The outlet further reported that Sting had been listed under the name "Gordon Matthew Sumner" as the defendant in the case. His company, Magnetic Publishing Limited, is another defendant in the case.

The Police had dropped their hit 1983 track titled Every Breath You Take. According to The Sun, it was only Sting who had been earning £550,000 annually in royalties. However, Summers and Copeland did not even receive songwriting credits. A spokesperson for Sting, however, stated that the lawsuit was not related to the 1983 song. However, no further details were revealed regarding the same.

The Daily Mail had reported that the recent suit had surfaced after years of bitter legal disputes within the band. The rock band was formed back in the year 1977 and the core members included Sting, Andy Summers, Stewart Copeland, and Henry Padovani. In 1984, following the band's disbandment, Sting reportedly went about making a successful solo career.

The Police dropped their debut album, Outlandos d'Amour, in 1978, a year after the band's formation. According to Parade, their sophomore album Reggatta de Blanc, released in 1979, gained them fame on a global scale.

Stewart Copeland had previously claimed that there had been tension in the band, despite all the success

In January 2020, Stewart Copeland sat for an interview with Radio Times. During the interview, Copeland revealed that despite the massive success that the band had enjoyed, there had been some tensions behind the scenes. He shed some light on his issues with Sting and claimed that they were primarily due to their different approaches to music.

Copeland said at the time,

"For Sting, music was a painkiller, an anaesthetic, a way to escape from the evil, harsh, grim world, to a place of utter, unassailable, unblemished beauty. For me, it’s a celebration: let’s light up this room and let’s have fun."

The former bandmate then talked about his then-dynamics with Sting and said,

"This can overlap – we made five albums as the Police. But the conflict grew and grew, out of that diversity of purpose. And now we understand that, and Sting and I get along famously … as long as we’re not playing music!"

The current lawsuit implied that the long-term issues surrounding creativity and finances within the band had not faded over time. In 1983, during an interview with Rolling Stone, Sting opened up about his dynamics with Stewart and Summers and said that it wasn't an "easy relationship."

During the conversation, Sting called the trio "three highly autonomous individuals." He, however, also added that despite the differences, the bandmates had deep love and respect for each other. He even stated that there were no other musicians that he would think of playing with. The frontman then highlighted that it was not easy to deal with three of them as a band. When asked about how the band made decisions, Sting said,

"Violence... I'll argue till the cows come home about something I believe in, and so will Andy and Stewart..."

The bandmates did not stay silent about their grievances with each other following the split

As previously mentioned, the Police disbanded officially in the 1980s. According to reports by The Daily Mail, the band members went at each other with remarks expressing their grievances about the fellow bandmates.

Stewart Copeland had previously described Sting as someone who "not only hates humanity, but every human within the species apart from his own family and has an ego so large it is visible from the moon." The outlet further reported that there were many tense moments while the band recorded their final album, Synchronicity. 

The random fights reportedly prompted the bandmates to do the recording from separate rooms. In his book Police Diaries 1976-9, Copeland shared glimpses into his dynamics with the former bandmates. He wrote,

"We love each other but we're not birds of a feather. If he's having a serene moment, I'm going to walk in and spill some beer on it."

As of now, no additional details about the lawsuit against Sting could be found.