CSPC: Bob Marley Popularity Analysis

Physical Singles Sales – Part 3

Survival (1979) – 93,000 equivalent albums

So Much Trouble In The World – 110,000
Wake Up And Live / Survival – 80,000
Zimbabwe – 80,000
One Drop – 30,000
Africa Unite – 10,000

Uprising (1980) – 336,000 equivalent albums

Could You Be Loved – 1,030,000
Redemption Song – 90,000

Confrontation (1983) – 168,000 equivalent albums

I Know – 20,000
Trench Town – 20,000
Buffalo Soldier – 520,000

Orphan singles – 813,000 equivalent albums

Simmer Down – 80,000
Reggae On Broadway – 80,000
Iron Lion Zion – 630,000
Keep On Moving – 140,000
Rainbow Country – 150,000
Remaining Singles – 1,630,000

Considering both Exodus and Kaya had Top 10 hits during their initial promotional campaign, we can consider that songs from Survival somewhat of a flop as only So Much Trouble in this World charted in the UK with a very modest #56 position.

Marley‘s hey-days weren’t done through as he quickly returned to success thanks to Could You Be Loved. The song reached the Top 10 in most of Europe, inclusively peaking at #5 for two weeks in the UK.

Sadly, the news of his cancer was soon revealed and his massively successful tour to support Uprising was interrupted less than 5 years after the initial entry of No Woman, No Cry inside charts. He passed away a few months later on May, 11, 1981.

He left behind a catalog full of priceless gems. One of them was Buffalo Soldier which became a global hit in 1983. Another one was the controversial Iron Lion Zion which validates the Rastas’ religion / movement views which consider the former dictator of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I as the incarnation of God. The song was still very successful peaking at #5 in the UK and #3 in France.

Please note that the remaining singles option of the Orphan category is especially big at 1,63 million due to the hundreds of singles released pre-1973 in Caribbean countries, plus in the UK and the US for the most successful of them like Mellow Mood and Soul Shakedown Party.