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How Sting’s “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free” Was a Response to “Every Breath You Take”

The story of the desolation of the Police and the birth of Sting’s first solo hit, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, as song he wrote as a remedy to the disturbing stalker #1 hit of 1983, Every Breath You take. After 4 straight #1 albums in the UK, their first #1 Album in America, and first #1 Single… the Police were on top of the world. No one was bigger than they were at the time. Which made what happened next so perplexing to their fanbase. They simply quit. Or at least they quit playing together. Today, we try to figure out why and tell the story of how their iconic lead singer Sting…

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