Bob Marley & The Wailers’ ‘Stir It Up’ Certified Gold In The UK

Stir It Up, the iconic reggae track by Bob Marley & The Wailers, has been certified Gold in the United Kingdom, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) announced on Friday (August 23). The certification marks a milestone of 400,000 units sold, as measured by The Official Charts Company.

Initially recorded in 1967 as a rocksteady track, Stir It Up has undergone several transformations and interpretations over the years.

In 1972, American singer Johnny Nash covered the track on his I Can See Clearly Now album. Nash had become familiar with Jamaican music years earlier and had partnered with Marley’s then-manager Danny Sims to form Cayman Music, which signed Marley to his first publishing contract in 1967.

Nash’s version of Stir It Up reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart, but this reportedly left Marley with mixed feelings.

“He’s [Nash] a hard worker, but he didn’t know my music. I don’t want to put him down, but reggae isn’t really his bag,” Marley reportedly told Melody Maker in 1973. “We knew of Johnny Nash in Jamaica before he arrived, but we didn’t love him that much: We appreciated him singing the kind of music he does – he was the first US artist to do reggae – but he isn’t really our idol. That’s Otis or James Brown or Pickett, the people who work it more hard.”

In 1973, Marley and the Wailers reclaimed the song, recording their definitive version for the album Catch a Fire. This rendition later found a home on the group’s seminal compilation, Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Check out all three versions of Stir It Up below.

The Gold certification of Stir It Up adds to Marley’s impressive list of accolades in the UK market.

His most commercially successful singles in the country, Three Little Birds (1977) and Could You Be Loved (1980), have each achieved double Platinum status, signifying sales exceeding 1.2 million units.

Five other tracks by the reggae pioneers have reached Platinum in the UK, each surpassing 600,000 units:  No Woman, No Cry  (1974), Jamming (1977), One Love (1977), Is This Love  (1978), and  Buffalo Solider  (1983).

Additionally, Waiting In Vain and Redemption Song have achieved Gold status, while Get Up Stand Up, I Shot The Sheriff, and Satisfy My Soul are certified Silver (200,00 units).