Stewart Copeland has said that he was left feeling “heartbroken” and with a sense of “sadness” after The Police were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
The band were welcomed into the Rock Hall in 2003, and performed for what was then the first time in decades at the ceremony – taking to the stage to play hit tracks ‘Every Breath You Take’, ‘Roxanne’ and ‘Message In A Bottle’.
Now, in a new documentary, drummer Stewart Copeland has looked back at the event. He admitted that he found it somewhat disappointing as it didn’t prove to be the celebratory night he had hoped for.
As reported by The Independent, the new documentary, Copeland, sees the drummer reveal that The Police had rehearsed ahead of the event. However, he found that there was a “weird” atmosphere in the room between himself, Sting and Andy Summers.
“We hadn’t seen each other in decades – the rehearsals were a little weird,” he said, going on to share that the tense feeling continued on the night of the ceremony.
“We played our three songs, [then] after we played the three songs, I look over and Andy’s walked off that way into the night, Sting’s walked off that way. I walk over to the front of the stage and meet up with my family… I never saw The Police again that night.”
Copeland remembered being “heartbroken” by this, adding that the induction ceremony left him with “a feeling of sadness”. He continued: “[It’s like,] does that mean nothing? Come on, guys. And I never saw them again.”
Copeland will get a UK premiere at the London Raindance Film Festival this Friday (June 19).
There has been a legal dispute between the members for a while now, with Summers and Copeland taking the frontman and his publishing company to court in London for “substantial damages” last year, after years of other legal disputes between the group.
The two of them claimed that Sting owed them between $2million (£1.5million) and $10.75million (£8million) in unpaid royalties, and Summers and Copeland’s lawyers added that their claim could rise even higher as their “historic underpayment” did not include interest.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Sting had reportedly paid his former Police bandmates over $800,000 (£598,000) in royalties since they filed the lawsuit in September.
Sting has repeatedly denied that his bandmates are entitled to a portion of his income from streaming or download sales – arguing those formats should be categorised as “public performance” rather than sales.
His lawyers also hit back at the claims made by the two musicians, and alleged that they have been “substantially overpaid”.
Copeland and Summers did not receive writing credits on The Police’s hits, which include ‘Every Breath You Take’, a song that reportedly earns Sting £550,000 in royalties per year alone. Even though they are not credited, they claim that they are owed “arranger’s fees” from the “digital exploitation” of the band’s back catalogue.