Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ Goes Double Platinum In UK

Bob Marley & The Wailers’ slow-burning classic Three Little Birds is the first song by the Reggae group to reach a multi-platinum status in the United Kingdom (UK).

According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Three Little Birds was issued a BRIT Certified Platinum 2X award on December 31, 2021, after it sold over 1,200,000 copies in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company.

First released on June 3, 1977, on the landmark Exodus album, the song had reached No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart.  It later appeared on the Diamond-selling greatest hits compilation album, Legend in 1984.

Three Little Birds is said to have been inspired by the birds that fluttered by the window at Bob’s home at 56 Hope Road, Kingston, before his exodus sent him to the UK in 1976.  Forty years after his death, the song remains a favorite among everyone from fans of Dutch football club Ajax to post-insurrection Trump supporters.

It is one of four songs by the group to reach platinum status in the UK.   Jamming (1977),  Is This Love  (1978), and  Could You Be Loved  (1980) are all currently certified platinum, having sold more than 600,000 units each in the country.

In 2020 — as part of the Reggae legend’s 75th birthday celebrations — the Marley estate released a new animated music video for Three Little Birds.   Marley’s daughter Cedella, at the time, said in a statement, “This song has helped provide hope and light for so many over the years, including me, and I hope it does the same for people now, especially with all that is going on in the world.”

The visuals, which depict a pig and a wolf who develop a friendship, under the watchful eye of the titular three little birds, have racked up over 33 million views on YouTube.

Bob Marley died in 1981 of cancer at the age of 36.