Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’ Certified Platinum In The UK
Bob Marley & The Wailers’ One Love/People Get Ready was certified platinum in the United Kingdom (UK) on Friday, October 14.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the song was issued the Brit Certified Platinum Award after it sold over 600,000 units in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company.
Marley recorded and re-wrote One Love three times, first in 1965 as a Ska track with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer for Studio One’s Sir Coxsone Dodd, then in 1970 under the title All In One, and then again in 1977 as One Love/People Get Ready on the Exodus album.
Named song of the millennium by the BBC in 1999, the 1977 cut contains an interpolation of The Impressions’ song People Get Ready, written by Curtis Mayfield.
The song spoke to Bob’s hope for world peace and his position on equality for all races and classes, and was written amid the turmoil of the Jamaican elections in December 1976. In 1978—after a 14-month self-imposed exile following an assassination attempt—Bob brought together the leaders of the rival political parties in Jamaica on stage for the One Love Peace Concert.
The song peaked at No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart, when it was released as a single in 1984 to promote the posthumous greatest hits album Legend.
A reimagined version, featuring Marley’s daughter, Cedella Marley, son Stephen Marley, and grandson, Skip Marley, was released in 2020 via Tuff Gong International to raise funds for UNICEF’s Coronavirus fund.
“Over forty years ago, my father wrote One Love about unity, peace and universal love during a time when there was much trouble in the world,” Cedella said in a statement at the time. “Even in a time when we aren’t able to get together, his message remains true today, we can get through this global crisis if we come together through one love and one heart.”
“The good thing about Dad’s catalogue is that we have songs that resonate for everything and to everyone, and I think choosing ‘One Love’ for this UNICEF program was very fitting,” Cedella said.
“I’m very honored to be a part, you know?” Skip shared. “It’s very beautiful to see, you know, how the messages just grow and grow.”
The song has been used in several movies, including Shrek Forever After (2010), Marley & Me (2008), Evan Almighty (2007), and Chain Reaction (1996). One Love is also the title of a romantic reggae film from 2003, starring Ky-Mani Marley, one of Marley’s sons.
It is now one of seven songs by Bob Marley & The Wailers to be awarded a platinum certification in the UK.
No Woman, No Cry (1974), Jamming (1977), Is This Love (1978), Could You Be Loved (1980), and Buffalo Solider (1983) are all currently certified platinum, having sold more than 600,000 units each. Three Little Birds was certified double platinum earlier this year, after it sold more than 1,200,000 units in the country.
Bob Marley died in 1981 of cancer at the age of 36.