Chaka Demus & Pliers’ ‘Murder She Wrote’ Certified Platinum In The UK
Chaka Demus & Pliers’ Dancehall hit Murder She Wrote is now certified Platinum in the United Kingdom more than thirty years after its release.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the song was issued a BRIT Certified Platinum award on Friday (November 18), after it sold over 600,000 units in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company. It had been certified Gold (400,000 units) in June 2022.
Murder She Wrote was recorded by several producers before being taken up by Sly & Robbie and Lloyd “Gitsy” Willis on the infectious Bam Bam rhythm in 1992. The song later appeared on Chaka Demus & Pliers’ 1993 album, Tease Me.
It peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending 17 weeks on the chart in 1993. It also reached No. 27 on the UK Singles Chart in 1994.
Two music videos were created for the hit: one featuring Dancehall Queen Carlene Smith and another without her.
In late 2019, Chaka Demus, whose real name is John Taylor, told the Jamaica Star that the song came about because Pliers (real name Everton Bonner) “was fooling around a girl named Maxine,” who later informed him that she was carrying his child.
“Him wait nine months, 10 months and no baby can’t come. So me say well this is ‘murder she wrote’ and so Pliers go and do a song with that title for producer Harry J,” Chaka had said.
The title was inspired by the TV detective series Murder She Wrote (1986–1994), a favorite of Pliers. In 2019, the show’s star, Angela Lansbury, heard the song for the first time during an interview with CBC radio host Tom Power. After listening to the Dancehall track, she laughed and expressed her delight, saying she was “thrilled to be a part of Reggae.”
In November 2021, American singer Omarion’s hit song Post to Be, which interpolated Murder She Wrote, was listed among the “50 Best Song Interpolations of the 21st Century” by Billboard. Lines from the opening verse of Murder She Wrote and the hook “murder she wrote” were interpolated in the 2014 song.
Murder She Wrote was also sampled in numerous hip-hop and reggaetón hits, such as French Montana and Nicki Minaj’s Freaks, Pitbull’s El Taxi, Daddy and Yankee’s Que Tire Pa’ ‘Lante, Jason Derulo’s Too Hot and Young Thug’s Murder.
The song was just one of several hit singles off Chaka Demus & Pliers’ Tease Me album.
The title track, Tease Me, peaked at No. 3 on the UK chart and is currently certified Platinum in the UK for sales exceeding 600,000 units.
Twist and Shout peaked at No. 1 and is currently certified Gold in the country.
She Don’t Let Nobody peaked at No. 4 and is currently certified Silver in the UK, while Gal Wine peaked at No. 20.
As for the Tease Me album, the 14-track set peaked at No. 1 on the UK Albums chart. It is currently certified Platinum in the country for sales exceeding 300,000 units.