Uploaded April 2015 | Updated September 2026, 21 hours ago
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by English rock band The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity. Written by Sting, the single was the biggest hit of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks (the band's only #1 hit on that chart), and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks, becoming one of the singles in history to have sold over 10 million.
At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated for three Grammy Awards including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Sting won Song of the Year while The Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals; however, it did not win Record of the Year. Songwriter Sting received the 1983 British Academy's Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically
The song ranked #84 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the highest position of any new wave rock song. It also ranked #25 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.
The song is considered to be both The Police's and Sting's signature song, and in 2010 was estimated to generate between a quarter and a third of Sting's music publishing income.
In the 1983 Rolling Stone critics and readers poll, "Every Breath You Take" was voted "Song of the Year". In the U.S., "Every Breath You Take" was the best-selling single of 1983 and fifth best-selling single of the decade. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1983
"Every Breath You Take" is a song by English rock band The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity. Written by Sting, the single was the biggest hit of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks (the band's only #1 hit on that chart), and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the Billboard Top Tracks chart for nine weeks, becoming one of the singles in history to have sold over 10 million.
At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards the song was nominated for three Grammy Awards including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Sting won Song of the Year while The Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals; however, it did not win Record of the Year. Songwriter Sting received the 1983 British Academy's Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically
The song ranked #84 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the highest position of any new wave rock song. It also ranked #25 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs.
The song is considered to be both The Police's and Sting's signature song, and in 2010 was estimated to generate between a quarter and a third of Sting's music publishing income.
In the 1983 Rolling Stone critics and readers poll, "Every Breath You Take" was voted "Song of the Year". In the U.S., "Every Breath You Take" was the best-selling single of 1983 and fifth best-selling single of the decade. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1983
