Nina Simone Earns Her First Platinum Hit

Nina Simone earns her first RIAA certification as “Feeling Good” skips straight to double platinum, decades after becoming her definitive recording. American singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist Nina Simone (1933-2003) performs live on stage at Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, United States on 4th July 1968. David Redfern Premium Collection. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)

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Nina Simone’s space in music history was cemented many years ago, but her legacy continues to improve with time. The singer and pianist was successful and lauded by critics during her lifetime, but in the decades since her passing, retrospective analyses of her work and the manner in which she conducted herself and her career have highlighted just how groundbreaking everything she did truly was, especially for the time.

Amazingly, until now, one of the music industry’s most coveted – but not elusive – awards had never been bestowed upon Simone. Thankfully, that has finally changed, and she’s earned just a piece of what her catalog deserves.

Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” Goes Double Platinum

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has finally certified Simone’s song “Feeling Good.” The track is now a double-platinum smash, which means it has shifted two million units between sales and streaming activity in the United States alone.

“Feeling Good” Skips Straight to Multi-Platinum Status

Typically, songs and albums will reach gold status and then advance to platinum, and, if they are successful enough, eventually multi-platinum. But that’s not the route “Feeling Good” ended up taking. In one huge swoop, Simone’s classic goes gold, platinum, and double platinum, earning all three prizes at the exact same time.

Nina Simone Collects Her First RIAA Certification

Shockingly, Simone collects her first certification from the RIAA with “Feeling Good.” None of her other songs or any of her albums have even been named gold, the lowest possible honor, despite her immense popularity and critical acclaim.

What the RIAA Awards Mean

The RIAA certifies songs and albums gold when they have shifted 500,000 equivalent units, a figure comprising purchases as well as streams into equivalent units. Platinum status kicks in at one million and rises from there until diamond level is reached at 10 million.

The Origins of “Feeling Good”

“Feeling Good” was written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd. The show tune and jazzy cut first emerged in 1964, but Simone recorded the version that would go on to become the definitive take.

Nina Simone’s I Put a Spell on You

Simone put her own spin on “Feeling Good” just a year after the song debuted on the stage. She included it on her album I Put a Spell on You, which arrived in the summer of 1965.

“Feeling Good” was never released as a single. For I Put a Spell on You, Simone only delivered the title track as a focus cut. Her cover of the Screamin’ Jay Hawkins classic, originally shared with the public in 1956, became a hit on Billboard’s R&B chart, though it didn’t expand much further than that.

I Put a Spell on You Was a Limited Chart Win

I Put a Spell on You was also a minor success in the U.S., climbing as high as No. 99 on the Billboard 200, the all-encompassing ranking of the most consumed full-lengths and EPs. The set would later reach the top 10 on the Jazz Albums tally.

“Feeling Good” Found a Second Life

Longtime Simone fans were always familiar with “Feeling Good,” but the track enjoyed a second life after it was licensed for use in a Volkswagen commercial in the mid-1990s. After that point, Simone’s cover was released as a single and managed to hit the top 40 in the United Kingdom.

Other Stars Also Score Hits With “Feeling Good”

Simone’s version of “Feeling Good” is the most famous, but she is not the only musician to find success with the track. It has also been recorded by well-known stars like Muse, George Michael, The Pussycat Dolls, and even Michael Bublé, who reached charts in a number of nations — including Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European territories — with his take.