Co-written by Sting and American record producer J. Ralph, the song was released as the lead single from the soundtrack album of 2016 documentary film Jim: The James Foley Story.
[4] Sting recorded a separate version of the song with a guitar, instead of piano, for his studio album 57th & 9th.
[5] The song is written for the film Jim: The James Foley Story which tells the life story of American photojournalist James "Jim" Foley who was kidnapped in Syria and subsequently beheaded by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
It's their song.Sting performed a solo acoustic guitar version of "The Empty Chair" during the 89th Academy Awards ceremony aired live on February 26, 2017.
[4] Sting also sang the song in November 2016 at Bataclan, a theatre in Paris, in an exclusive concert to commemorate the 2015 terrorist attack.