One Love/People Get Ready

"One Love" is a ska song written by Bob Marley and recorded by his group the Wailers from their 1965 debut studio album The Wailing Wailers. It was rerecorded as part of the 1970 medley "All in One", which contained reggae reworkings of their early ska songs. This was released as a single and is also included on the compilation African Herbsman under the name "All in One".

"One Love"
Song by the Wailers
from the album The Wailing Wailers
Released	1965
Recorded	1965
Studio	Jamaica (Brentford Road, Kingston)
Genre	Ska, rocksteady
Length	3:20
Label	Studio One
Songwriter(s)	Bob Marley Curtis Mayfield (uncredited)
Producer(s)	Clement Dodd

"One Love / People Get Ready"
Single by Bob Marley and the Wailers
from the album Exodus
B-side	"So Much Trouble in the World"
Released	16 April 1984
Recorded	1977
Genre	Roots reggae
Length	2:54
Label	Island
Songwriter(s)	Bob Marley Curtis Mayfield
Producer(s)	Bob Marley and the Wailers
Bob Marley and the Wailers singles chronology
"Buffalo Soldier" (1983) "One Love / People Get Ready" (1984) "Iron Lion Zion" (1992)
Official Music Video
"One Love/People Get Ready" on YouTube

The famous version of "One Love" that appears on their album Exodus was recorded in 1977 for Island Records under the title of "One Love/People Get Ready". This version credits Curtis Mayfield (as Island Records wanted to avoid copyright problems), and it gives co-authorship credits to both Marley and Mayfield as it contains an interpolation of the Impressions' song "People Get Ready", written by Mayfield. As the main artist, Marley and his group were credited as Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was not released as a single until 16 April 1984, to promote the forthcoming greatest hits album Legend. However, the single became one of his biggest hits and has been included on many of Marley and the Wailers subsequent compilation albums. The original recording of the song does not credit Mayfield's song and is simply titled "One Love"; this is because copyright law was not enforced for Jamaican recordings at this time. The original song was published in the key of B♭ major, but it has since been transposed so it is in the key of C major.

In 2007, the 1965 recording of "One Love" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.^[1]

Music videos

The first music video was a posthumous release directed by Don Letts in 1984 to accompany the Bob Marley and the Wailers compilation album, Legend. It stars a young British-Jamaican boy, Jesse Lawrence, in his home on the World's End Estate,^[2] and on the King's Road dancing at the head of a large crowd of punks, locals and tourists as well as archival footage of Marley (from the "Is This Love" music video). It also features several cameo appearances including Paul McCartney, two members of Bananarama, Neville Staple of The Specials, members of the reggae groups Aswad and Musical Youth, Suggs and Chas Smash of Madness; some of the short clips in this video are also in Madness' video for their song "The Return of the Los Palmas 7". The song was also released alongside the video and gave Marley a posthumous UK hit when it reached number 5 in May 1984.^[3]

A second music video for "One Love" was produced by Marley's estate in 2014, with fans submitting video ideas through Tongal and then ultimately compiling a video of diverse contributors lip-syncing and dancing to the song.^[4]

In popular culture

• The song has been featured in Jamaica Tourist Board television advertisements since 1994.^[5] In 2007, Stephen Marley and Richard Branson re-recorded the song in Jamaica to promote Branson's Virgin Airways flights to Jamaica.^[6]
• One Love is also the title of a romantic reggae film from 2003, starring Ky-Mani Marley, one of Marley's sons.
• The song appears on the film Marley & Me. When the song is heard on the radio, it inspires the character to name the dog Marley. However, according to the John Grogan book of the same name on which the film is based, Grogan and his wife chose the name after hearing another Marley song, "Is This Love", on the radio whilst deciding what to call the puppy.^[7]
• A dramatization of Bob Marley's life, titled Bob Marley: One Love, was released in 2024.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1984) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 24 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[9] 4 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[10] 18 Ireland (IRMA)[11] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 3 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 1 UK Singles (OCC)[15] 5

Year-end charts Chart (1984) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[16] 41 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[17] 14 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[18] 18 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[19] 3 UK Singles (OCC)[20] 61

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[21]	Gold	30,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[22]	Gold	25,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[23]	Gold	10,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[24]	Gold	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Platinum	600,000‡
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#o ^{[bare URL]}
2. "Worldsenders". Worlds-enders.blogspot.com. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
3. "Official Singles Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
4. Brown, Harley (4 December 2014). "Ben & Jerry's and Tuff Gong Release First Video for 'One Love' and a Bob Marley-Inspired Ice Cream". Billboard. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
5. "One Love". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
6. Article Archived 2 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
7. Grogan, John (2006). Marley & me : life and love with the world's worst dog. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 13. ISBN 0-340-92209-5. OCLC 141378706.
8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
9. "Bob Marley & the Wailers – One Love / People Get Ready" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
10. "European Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 1, no. 8. 21 May 1984. p. 10.
11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Bob Marley & the Wailers". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 25, 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
13. "Bob Marley & the Wailers – One Love / People Get Ready" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
14. "Bob Marley & the Wailers – One Love / People Get Ready". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
16. "Jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
17. "Top 100–Jaaroverzicht van 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
18. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1984" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
19. "End of Year Charts 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
20. "Top 100 Singles". Music Week. 26 January 1985. p. 37.
21. "Brazilian single certifications – Bob Marley – One Love/People Get Ready" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
22. "Italian single certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – One Love" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
23. "New Zealand single certifications – Bob Marley – One Love – People Get Ready". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 16 May 2020.^{[dead link‍]}
24. "Spanish single certifications – Bob Marley – One Love / People Get Ready". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
25. "British single certifications – Bob Marley & The Wailers – One Love/People Get Ready". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 October 2022.