"It's Probably Me" is a song originally released in 1992 as a collaboration by

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

featuring

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

, and

David Sanborn David William Sanborn (July 30, 1945 – May 12, 2024) was an American alto saxophonist. He worked in many musical genres; his solo recordings typically blended jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He began playing the saxophone at the age o ...

. Released from the soundtrack to the

action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...

film ''

Lethal Weapon 3 ''Lethal Weapon 3'' is a 1992 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen. The sequel to ''Lethal Weapon 2'' (1989), it is the third installment in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film se ...

'' in June 1992, the song reached number 20 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" fo ...

chart and number 12 on Canada's ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' 100 Hit Tracks chart. It was more successful in Europe, peaking at number one in Italy, number four in France, and number six in the Netherlands.

Background and release

The song uses

leitmotifs A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciza ...

that were first used on the soundtrack for the original ''

Lethal Weapon ''Lethal Weapon'' is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In ''Lethal Weapon'', a pai ...

'' film, released five years earlier. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and on the ''

'' movie soundtrack. It also appears on the '' Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994'' international edition compilation album released in 1994, and on Sting's ''

Duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...

'' album released in 2021. Sting rerecorded the song in 1993 for his ''

Ten Summoner's Tales ''Ten Summoner's Tales'' is the fourth solo studio album by English musician Sting. The title is a combined pun of his family name, Sumner, and a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales'', the summoner. Released in 1993, it exp ...

'' album without any of the other musicians.

Music video

A music video was released in mid 1992 featuring Sting, Eric Clapton, Michael Kamen and David Sanborn performing the track together while a few scenes of ''Lethal Weapon 3'' are shown. The video snippets in where the quartet performs the song are shot in black and white. Clapton is also seen smoking a cigarette in the video and using his

Zippo A Zippo lighter is a reusable metal lighter produced by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States. Thousands of different styles and designs have been made since their introduction in 1933, incl ...

petrol lighter to create the opening rhythm instead of a drum set or programme.

Reception

Clapton, Sting and Kamen were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

at the

35th Annual Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shan ...

for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television in 1993. At the

1993 MTV Movie Awards The 1993 MTV Movie Awards was hosted by Eddie Murphy. Performers *Duran Duran — " Ordinary World" *Stone Temple Pilots — "Plush" *Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Dogg) — "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" *Rod Stewart — "Have I Told You Lately" Present ...

Sting and Clapton were both nominated for the Best Movie Song. The American music website ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'' retrospectively rated the release with two out of five possible stars.

Track listings

Personnel

Musicians *

– lead and backing vocals, bass guitar *

– acoustic and electric guitar *

– keyboards, strings arrangement *

Steve Gadd Stephen Kendall Gadd (born April 9, 1945) is an American jazz fusion drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and most highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction i ...

– drums * Stephen McLaughlin – percussion *

– alto saxophone

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Reception

The song was described by Thomas Edward of

Smooth Radio Smooth Radio may refer to: * Smooth Radio (2010), the original national network in the UK * Smooth Radio (2014) See also * Smoothfm smoothfm is an Australian commercial radio network owned and operated by Nova Entertainment. From original l ...

, as "a slick, soulful duet".

References

{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs A&M Records singles Eric Clapton songs Lethal Weapon (franchise) Number-one singles in Italy Sting (musician) songs Songs written by Eric Clapton Songs written by Michael Kamen Songs written by Sting (musician)