Stewart Copeland was “heartbroken” after The Police’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as his former bandmates Sting and Andy Summers apparently didn’t stick around for the rest of the ceremony.
The revered musician and film composer, regarded as one of the most innovative and influential drummers in rock history, is the subject of a new documentary, Copeland, which is premiering at Raindance Film Festival this week.
In one moment, Copeland recalls how the band reunited for the first time in almost two decades in 2003 – having disbanded in 1984 at the height of their fame – to rehearse then perform three songs and be inducted into the Hall.
“We rehearsed before, then we hadn’t seen each other in decades – the rehearsals were a little weird,” he recalls.
“We played our three songs, [then] after we played the three songs – it was a very low stage – I look over and Andy’s walked off that way into the night, Sting’s walked off that way… I walk over the front of the stage, go meet up with my family… I never saw The Police again that night.”
In the documentary, Copeland reveals he had “a feeling of sadness”, as he’d remembered “all the great music” the band had made and had been excited to be back onstage with them.
“I was heartbroken,” he says. “Does that mean nothing? Come on, guys. And I never saw them again.”
Speaking to The Independent, Copeland explained that he’d felt wrongfooted by the moment, despite having no expectations of what would take place: “What I didn’t expect was to walk off the stage and never see them again”.
“It was strange that we came together and went apart, you know?” he said. “I hung out with The Clash instead… I felt more bonhomie with The Clash than I did [with] my own band.”
However, The Police did eventually reunite in 2007, following the release the year before of the rockumentary Everyone Stares: The Police Inside Out, based on Super-8 filming Copeland did while touring with the band in the late Seventies and early Eighties.
The band promptly went their separate ways again after the tour concluded in August 2008, as one of the highest-grossing runs of all time.
Outside of The Police, Sting established a hugely successful solo career while Summers also released solo music and film scores.
Copeland, meanwhile, asserted himself as an in-demand composer, scoring films such as Wall Street (1987) and TV shows including The Equalizer. He also became known for his work on the music for the hit Spyro video game series, and for the ambitious 2009 stage adaptation of Lew Wallace’s 1880 novel Ben-Hur, which premiered in 2009 at the O2 Arena in London.
He declined to comment on the ongoing lawsuit he and Summers filed against Sting last year, over claims they were owed between £1.5m and £8m in royalties for hit songs such as “Roxanne” and “Every Breath You Take”.
In January, the BBC reported that Sting paid Copeland and Summers more than half a million pounds after acknowledging they did not receive sufficient royalties, while denying that they are entitled to a portion of his income from streaming and download sales.
Copeland did, however, confirm to The Independent that he was not involved in the recently announced Spyro sequel A Realm Beyond – the first original Spyro game since 2008 – which is due for release in 2027.
“It happens that way,” he said. “It's a new generation. They want a new generation of sound and everything… they’ve got to modernise it. No harm, no foul.”
Copeland the documentary spans the extraordinary range of the musician’s career, from his early beginnings to The Police and his work as a composer, along with his time in the band Oysterhead and collaborations with local musicians in Solento, Italy.
Asked if he thought the doc would help shift the idea that he was “just” a drummer, Copeland remarked that he doubted if “my colleagues will be watching the movie”.
“Those two guys, you’ll know if you have siblings, you’re cast as who you are… and anything you do to change that will just upset the apple cart,” he said. “So I’m perfectly happy for my two former bandmates to see me as the guy who bangs s***, and that’s fine, because that’s certainly my role within the band!”
He added: “It’s kind of liberating, actually. I’m the younger sibling, I don’t have to be the boss, and I’m quite happy to be on the team.”
Copeland said he had to “completely leave behind” his rock star persona when he began composing film scores: “You don’t go to an interview with [director] Oliver Stone in snakeskin pants, you know?
“And so becoming a suburban dad within an entirely unrelated world, [The Police] just faded in my mind, into obscurity, as just something I did – it was only eight years of my 74-year span. But it does continue to surprise me how much effect it had.”
The world premiere of ‘Copeland’ will take place at London’s 2026 Raindance Film Festival on Friday 19 June.
