UB40 are an English
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
and
pop band, formed in December 1978 in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album
The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...
four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the
Brit Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Best British Group.
UB40 have sold over 70 million records worldwide.
The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Welsh,
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
,
Jamaican,
Scottish, and
Yemeni
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
parentage.
Their
hit singles include their debut "
Food for Thought" and two
''Billboard'' Hot 100 number ones with "
Red Red Wine
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, '' Just for You''. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drink ...
" and "
Can't Help Falling in Love". Both of these also topped the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, as did the band's version of "
I Got You Babe
"I Got You Babe" is a song performed by Sonny & Cher and written by Sonny Bono. It was the first single taken from their debut studio album '' Look at Us''. In August 1965, their single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 1 ...
". Their two most successful albums, ''
Labour of Love
''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song " Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...
'' (1983) and ''
Promises and Lies
A promise is a transaction whereby a person makes a vow or the suggestion of a guarantee.
Promise(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Promise, Oregon
* Promise, South Dakota
*Promise City, Iowa
* Promise Land, Tennessee or Promise
Film and TV
* ''P ...
'' (1993), reached number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
. UB40 and the English
ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
band
Madness hold the record for most weeks spent by a group in the UK singles chart during the 1980s, with 214 weeks each.
The band's line-up was stable for nearly 29 years, from March 1979 until January 2008, when frontman
Ali Campbell
Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
left the band, followed shortly thereafter by keyboardist Mickey Virtue. Another member, Astro, remained with the band until November 2013, when he departed the original band to team up with Campbell and Virtue in a new version of UB40. In 2014, legal advice was sought by the original band (now consisting of remaining co-founding members drummer Jimmy Brown, guitarist Robin Campbell, bassist Earl Falconer, percussionist Norman Hassan, and saxophonist Brian Travers, along with new vocalist Duncan Campbell) who took action against the group containing Campbell, Virtue, and Astro over usage of the band name, due to it being used by both parties. On 5 July 2021, it was announced that Matt Doyle (formerly of the reggae band Kioko) would become the band's new vocalist, following Duncan Campbell's retirement due to ill health. Travers died from cancer on 22 August 2021, and Astro died on 6 November 2021 following a short illness.
History
1978–1983: Formation and rise to stardom
The band members began as friends who knew each other from various schools across
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England.
The name "UB40" was selected in reference to an attendance card issued to people claiming
unemployment benefits
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a comp ...
from the UK government
Department of Employment
The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...
. The designation UB40 stood for Unemployment Benefit, Form 40.
The origins of what would become UB40 began when in mid-1978 guitarist Ali Campbell, together with the rhythm section of drummer Jimmy Brown and bassist Earl Falconer, began rehearsing charting reggae songs in addition to some of their own original compositions. They were soon joined by several of their friends, firstly percussionists Yomi Babayemi and Norman Hassan, and then saxophonist Brian Travers and keyboardist Jimmy Lynn. Robin Campbell, although initially reluctant to commit to forming a band with the others, was invited to join once again by his brother and bought a guitar with which to do so in December of that year. Once Robin had joined the others in their jamming sessions, the eight musicians formed a band, deciding on the name 'UB40' after a friend suggested it was an appropriate name given the unemployed status of all of the band members. Prior to this, Travers had work as an electrical apprentice for NG Bailey; whilst Robin Campbell had been an apprentice toolmaker.
![UB40 first gig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/UB40_first_gig.jpg)
This lineup of the band lasted long enough to play their first show at the
Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath in February 1979 and one other, before the band underwent its first lineup change in the form of Babayemi and Lynn leaving the band and Mickey Virtue joining in place of Lynn. A month later UB40's classic lineup was rounded out with the inclusion of percussionist and vocalist Astro. Astro had previously been working for Duke Alloy's
sound system attending reggae dances in Birmingham.
Before some of them could play their
instruments
Instrument may refer to:
Science and technology
* Flight instruments, the devices used to measure the speed, altitude, and pertinent flight angles of various kinds of aircraft
* Laboratory equipment, the measuring tools used in a scientific lab ...
, Ali Campbell and Brian Travers travelled around Birmingham promoting the band, putting up UB40
posters. Their sound was created and honed through many long jam sessions at various locations in Birmingham.
![Ali Campbell at Raggamuffin 2009 cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Ali_Campbell_at_Raggamuffin_2009_cropped.jpg)
Their first gig took place on 9 February 1979 at The Hare & Hounds Pub in
Kings Heath
Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435, Alcester road. ...
, Birmingham for a friend's birthday party. This was commemorated in October 2011 by the unveiling of a plaque at the venue, indicating the band receiving the
Performing Rights Society
PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...
's Music Heritage Award. UB40 caught their first break when
Chrissie Hynde saw them at a pub and gave them an opportunity as a support act to her band,
The Pretenders
Pretenders are an English–American rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete ...
. UB40's first single, "King"/"
Food for Thought" was released on Graduate Records, a local independent label run by David Virr. It reached No. 4 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
The title of their first album, ''
Signing Off'', indicates the band was signing off from, or ending, their claim for unemployment benefits. It was recorded in a
bedsit in Birmingham and was produced by Bob Lamb. Norman Hassan said of the recording: "if you stripped my track down, you could hear the birds in the background." This is because his tracks were recorded outside in the garden. ''Signing Off'' was released on 29 August 1980. It entered the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
on 2 October 1980, and spent 71 weeks in total on the chart. ''Signing Off'' is now a
Platinum album
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. As UB40 grew in popularity, they encouraged and supported local musicians and bands from Birmingham, such as
Beshara, often bringing them on tour.
![UB40 Rock am Ring 1987](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/UB40_Rock_am_Ring_1987.jpg)
After great success in the UK, UB40's popularity in the US was established when they released ''
Labour of Love
''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song " Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...
'', an album of
cover song
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s, in 1983. The album reached number one on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
and number 14 on the
''Billboard'' 200 in the US five years later. The album featured the song "
Red Red Wine
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, '' Just for You''. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drink ...
", a
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of a
Neil Diamond song (in an arrangement similar to that of Tony Tribe's version); it reached number one in the UK in 1983 and number one in the US in 1988. Three years later UB40 performed at the
Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986. In 1987 Ray "Pablo" Falconer, producer of UB40 music, died in a car crash. His brother, Earl Falconer, the band's bassist, was driving with nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood. Earl was sentenced to six months imprisonment in June 1988 and banned from driving for three years.
1988–2008: Continued success
On 11 June 1988, UB40 performed at the
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the ...
concert that took place at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
in London and also involved
Dire Straits,
George Michael,
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed " The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston i ...
, the
Bee Gees and other artists.
Their most successful worldwide single release is their reggae/pop version of "
(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You", which was the main title to the 1993
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
movie ''
Sliver''; it was a number one hit across Europe and in the US. In 1995 they covered the
Stevie Wonder song "
Superstition" for the
Eddie Murphy movie ''
Vampire in Brooklyn
''Vampire in Brooklyn'' is a 1995 American dark comedy horror film directed by Wes Craven. It stars Eddie Murphy, who produced and wrote with his brothers Vernon Lynch and Charles Q. Murphy. The film co-stars Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem ...
'' and it appears on their album ''The Best of UB40 – Volume Two'' which they released that year. The group also made a guest appearance in the 1997 feature film ''
Speed 2: Cruise Control''.
UB40 are featured in the 1988 film ''
The Yob''. UB40 toured South Africa in July 2007 and headlined the
Live Earth
Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment.
Background
Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...
concert at the
Cradle of Humankind, near
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
.
In 2003, UB40 and the United Colours of Sound recorded "
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" as the official anthem for the
England national rugby union team. Following England's victory in the
2003 Rugby Union World Cup
The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...
, it reached number 15 in the UK Singles Chart.
2008–present: Line-up changes and the current era
![UB40WellingtonNZ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/UB40WellingtonNZ.JPG)
On 24 January 2008, it was announced that Ali Campbell would be leaving the group after 30 years. It was originally stated that this was in order for Campbell to concentrate on solo projects, but Campbell later said he was leaving due to management and business disputes. The remaining seven members released a statement saying: "Ali made a very simple decision; he chose to pursue and put his solo career over and above continuing to work with UB40 after February 2008. It’s as simple as that". Mickey Virtue departed shortly afterwards citing the same issues that Campbell had as reasons for his departure.
![UB40](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/UB40.jpg)
It was reported by some Birmingham newspapers on 13 March 2008, that
Maxi Priest
Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...
would be the new lead singer of UB40 and had recorded a cover of
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
's "
I Shot the Sheriff
"I Shot the Sheriff" is a song written by Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley and released in 1973 with his band Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Bob Marley and the Wailers version
The song was first released in 1973 on The Wailers' album '' Burn ...
" with the band, based on information from an unnamed "source close to the band." Priest had joined UB40 on their arena tour in 2007, culminating in sell-out shows at the
NEC Birmingham
The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre located in Marston Green, Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Bir ...
in December. Another local newspaper reporting that Maxi Priest would be the new UB40 frontman, also included a statement from band spokesman Gerard Franklyn which contradicted this claim: "Maxi is collaborating with the band to record material but no decision has been made to replace Ali Campbell with one definitive singer. The reports are half correct he will be appearing with them for this new recording." In April 2008, the BBC reported that Campbell was to be replaced in the band by his brother Duncan, with reggae singer Maxi Priest also bolstering the line-up on tour.
![TraversParryUB40](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/TraversParryUB40.jpg)
The band released their next album, ''
TwentyFourSeven'', UB40's last with their classic lineup, by way of a free insert in ''
The Mail on Sunday
''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...
''s 4 May 2008 issue. The newspaper sold nearly three million copies. This led to a backlash when the full 17-track version was released 21 June 2008, and most of the big retailers refused to stock it. It failed to reach the Top 75 in the UK, which was a first, as all their official albums had previously made the Top 50 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
.
[ Their next release, on EMI, was a collection called ''Love Songs'', which was a compilation of hits mainly from the Labour of Love series and all featuring Ali Campbell on vocals – it reached number 3 in the UK.][ The band toured the US, which included their first show at the Hollywood Bowl.]
In 2009 the band released the first new album with their new lead singer Duncan Campbell; another in the ''Labour of Love'' cover series entitled '' Labour of Love IV''. The album was in the charts for only two weeks reaching number 24. During the 2009 US Tour UB40 offered fans live concert recordings on USB wristbands. The wristbands also included the Dub Sessions remix album and photos.
UB40 announced that after completing a coast-to-coast 2010 American tour they would be playing a nationwide UK tour of theatres in October/November 2010 performing their seminal album ''Signing Off'', in full, along with a second set of popular UB40 songs. To coincide, on 1 November 2010 a remastered 2CD+DVD of ''Signing Off'' was released as a '30th Anniversary Special Edition'.
In 2011 five founding members of the group and directors of their DEP International
Dep International was a British record label founded in 1980 by members of British group UB40. It specialised in reggae and dub music. The label went into administration in October 2006 and into insolvent liquidation in April 2008.
It was b ...
label, had bankruptcy proceedings started against them relating to debts of the record label. In October 2011 Travers, Wilson, Hassan and Brown were declared bankrupt. Former member Ali Campbell was also declared bankrupt. In 2013 a new album, '' Getting Over the Storm'' was announced, their first since 2010 and ''Labour of Love IV''.
In November 2013, UB40 revealed dates in anticipation of their UK Tour in early 2014. The announcement of the tour followed the success of the band's latest Top 30 album, ''Getting Over The Storm'', which was awarded BBC Radio 2's 'Album of the Week' accolade and received 5-star reviews from the UK's music press on its release in September 2013. On 22 November 2013 Astro announced in a statement that he had left the band, describing it as a "rudderless ship" and criticising the "serious lack of communication between the band and management" and the country-orientated direction of their latest album. Astro joined former UB40 members Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue on stage at the indigO2 Arena in London on 6 December 2013, and on 17 January 2014 the trio announced on their website that they were in the studio recording new music. Ali Campbell was highly critical of his replacement in UB40, stating "I sat back for five years and watched my brother Duncan murdering my songs." Ali Campbell toured as UB40 with Astro and Virtue over the summer. The new album ''Silhouette'', featuring the trio, was set for release on 6 October 2014.
In December 2014 Ali Campbell claimed that he would be prepared to go to the High Court in London over the matter rather than settle out of court.
Duncan Campbell retired from UB40 in June 2021 due to ill health, following a stroke he had suffered the previous year; he was replaced the following month by Matt Doyle of fellow Birmingham reggae band Kioko.
In August 2021, saxophonist Brian Travers died of cancer at the age of 62 in his Moseley
Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...
home. In November 2021 former vocalist and founding member Astro died following a short illness.
In August 2022, the band performed "Red Red Wine" at the Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony, with the show also featuring other acts from Birmingham and the West Midlands region such as Musical Youth
Musical Youth are a British-Jamaican reggae band formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England. They are best remembered for their 1982 single " Pass the Dutchie", which was a number 1 in multiple charts around the world. Their other hits include "Yout ...
, Panjabi MC, Dexys
Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...
, Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
and Apache Indian
Steven Kapur (born 11 May 1967), known by the stage name Apache Indian, is a British singer-songwriter and reggae DJ. He had a series of hits during the 1990s. He is best known in the UK for the song " Boom Shack-A-Lak", which reached the top ...
. They also issued the single "Champion" in association with the Commonwealth Games with this Official Anthem being their first single to be sung by Matt Doyle. "Champion" also features Dapz on the Map and Gilly G, and can be found on the ''On Record'' compilation of Birmingham-based bands alongside "It’s a Brum Ting" by Friendly Fire Band, the track the BBC used for their Commonwealth Games coverage.
Influences
UB40 were influenced by the many blues parties they attended as teenagers in the multicultural Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle.
History
Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of ...
area of Birmingham. Their love of ska
Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...
, reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
and early lovers rock inspired such original tracks as "King", "Madam Medusa", "Food for Thought", "Signing Off" and "One in Ten". Their early musical style was unique, with a heavy influence of analogue synthesisers, psychedelic rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
guitar, saxophone and dub producer techniques.
The Campbell brothers are the sons of the late folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
ian, Ian Campbell. Their father regularly took them to folk festivals and gigs and introduced them to music and to touring. It was at his father's folk club "Jug O' Punch" that Ali Campbell made his singing debut with Dave Swarbrick
David Cyril Eric Swarbrick (5 April 1941 – 3 June 2016) was an English folk musician and singer-songwriter. His style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players who have followed him. He was ...
's daughter, Suss, singing "Why Does It have To Be Me?".
Achievements
UB40 are one of the most commercially successful reggae acts of all time in terms of record sales (over 70 million), chart positions and touring schedule.[ During their three-decade long career, they have been performing sell-out shows worldwide and headlining the Reggae Sunsplash music festival in ]Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
, as well as spreading reggae to Russia, South America, etc. They have performed twice at the Night of the Proms
Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The co ...
, in 2000 and in 2006. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album
The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...
four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for Best British Group.
In October 2011, UB40 were commemorated with a Heritage Award
The PRS for Music Heritage Award is a ceremonial plaque installed in a public place to commemorate a link between a famous musician or music band and the location they performed their first live gig. The UK-wide plaque is awarded and funded by ...
, a ceremonial plaque from the UK's PRS for Music
PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...
. A plaque was placed at the Hare & Hounds Pub in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, the location where they played their first gig.
All three of their UK number one hits and four of their five US top ten hits were cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s. UB40 collaborators include: Pato Banton
Pato Banton (born Patrick Murray; 5 October 1961) is a reggae singer and toaster from Birmingham, England. He received the nickname "Pato Banton" from his stepfather; his first name derives from the sound of a Jamaican owl calling "patoo, patoo ...
, Madness, Bitty McLean
Delroy Easton "Bitty" McLean (born 8 August 1972) is a British reggae, lovers rock and ragga singer. He is best known for his three UK Top 10 hits in 1993 and 1994, including his debut offering " It Keeps Rainin' (Tears from My Eyes)".
Career
...
, Chrissie Hynde, Maxi Priest
Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...
, Robert Palmer, Hunterz
Hunterz is a British Asian urban musician with Indian pop and Bhangra influences but based in England. His grandmother moved from Kenya to the U.K. after her husband died. She had to sing to feed her six children. With an early training in India ...
, Japanese artist Mikidozan, French artist Nuttea, Lady Saw
Marion Hall (born 12 July 1969; formerly known by the stage name Lady Saw) is a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose career has spanned over two decades. Formerly known as the Queen of Dancehall, she is the first female deejay to be certified ...
, Afrika Bambaataa, 808 State. With 214 weeks spent on the UK singles charts over the course of the 1980s, UB40 and Madness hold the record for most weeks spent by a group in the 1980s UK singles charts.
Referencing the group's longevity, Ali Campbell has said that the group was fortunate in choosing a relatively young genre, as reggae "... hasn't outlived its own cool like jazz has".
Band members
Current members
* Jimmy Brown – drums
* Robin Campbell – guitar, vocals
* Earl Falconer – bass guitar, vocals
* Norman Hassan – percussion, trombone, vocals
* Matt Doyle – lead vocals, guitar
Current touring musicians
* Laurence Parry – trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone
* Martin Meredith – saxophone, keyboards
* Tony Mullings – keyboards
* Ian Thompson – saxophone
Former members
* Ali Campbell
Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
– guitar, lead vocals
* Yomi Babayemi – percussion
* Jimmy Lynn – keyboards
* Brian Travers – saxophone
* Mickey Virtue – keyboards
* Astro – percussion, trumpet, vocals, toasting
* Duncan Campbell – lead vocals
Former touring musicians
* Henry Tenyue – trombone
* Patrick Tenyue – trumpet
Timeline
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id:Lines value:black legend:Studio albums
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bar:Mickey text:"Mickey Virtue"
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bar:Matt from:05/07/2021 till:end color:Vocals
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Biographies
Astro
Terence Oswald Wilson (24 June 1957 – 6 November 2021), better known by his stage name Astro, was a British musician, rapper
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
, and toaster
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast.
Types
Pop-up toaster
In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaste ...
, who was part of UB40 from 1979 until he left the group in November 2013. His nickname comes from his childhood as he wore a pair of Dr. Martens boots with the model name "Astronaut".[
He went to school with the future keyboard player of UB40, Virtue. While DJ-ing, he met the Campbell brothers, and bonded so well with them over a love of Jamaican music that they invited him to join them as their MC. He believed that reggae music was for everyone, and shouldn't just be for Jamaican Rastafarians.]
In the band's 1983 version of ''Red Red Wine,'' he added his own "toasting" lyrics, which is a Jamaican forerunner to rapping. This became an integral part to the group's sound. Astro offered the band a more militant edge, rapping about social injustice and racism. He encountered racism himself when he was refused admittance to nightclubs on account of his dreadlocks, when white members of the band were welcomed.
He eventually quit the band in 2013 after they decided to record a set of country songs. He wasn't interested in this genre of music and was only interested in performing and promoting reggae. He went on to join Ali Campbell and Virtue in a Rival band to UB40.
Astro died following a short illness on 6 November 2021, at the age of 64.
Duncan Campbell
Duncan Campbell (born 3 April 1958 in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
) is an English musician and former lead singer of UB40. He joined the band in 2008 after the departure of his brother Ali Campbell
Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
, the former UB40 lead singer. Current bandmate Robin Campbell is also his brother, and he is the son of the late folk singer Ian Campbell.[ Campbell announced his retirement from live concert performances after suffering a seizure in August 2020. His replacement as lead singer was announced on 5 July 2021 as Matt Doyle, formerly of the band Kioko.
Campbell sang in a harmony group with his brothers as children and performed with their father on stage. He also recorded a reggae album in Jamaica for his brother Ali's record label, but it was never released. He was a professional spoon player. "I was the only professional spoon player in the country registered with the Musicians' Union – until they registered me as a vocalist," said Campbell. He also worked as a casino manager in ]Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
, ran a fish and chip
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of liv ...
shop in Perth, Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, and has worked as an actor.[
On 24 January 2008, UB40 lead singer ]Ali Campbell
Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
announced that he was leaving the band after a dispute with the management; UB40 announced that they would carry on. On 30 April 2008, UB40 unveiled Duncan as their new lead singer.
Duncan was offered the position of lead singer in 1978, but turned it down at the time, and said that he "wouldn't get the chance in another 30 years". Ali Campbell was "disappointed but didn't object" to him joining UB40. When asked why he did not join UB40 in 1978, he joked because they were "crap" and that he "was too smart for them and he knew that they would get nowhere". In 2014, Ali formed a rival version of UB40 with Astro and Mickey Virtue. He said of his brother's singing, "I sat back for five years and watched my brother Duncan murdering my songs. We're saving the legacy". Duncan suffered a stroke in August 2020 and announced his retirement from the band in June 2021, citing ill health.
Earl Falconer
Earl Acton Falconer (born 23 January 1959 in Meriden, Warwickshire) is a British bass player and singer in UB40. Falconer also co-founded the UK bass
UK bass, also called bass music, is club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of diverse genres such as house, grime, dubstep, UK garage, R&B, and UK funky. The term "UK bass" came into use as artis ...
label Circus Records
Circus Records is an independent record label founded by Joshua "Flux Pavilion" Steele, Shaun "Doctor P" Brockhurst, Simon Swan and Earl Falconer in 2009. Kanye West and Jay-Z sampled the Flux Pavilion song "I Can't Stop" in "Who Gon Stop Me" ...
alongside Flux Pavilion
Joshua Steele (born 15 January 1989) better known by his stage name Flux Pavilion, is an English EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and label owner who has been performing since 2008.
Flux Pavilion has headlined three US tours, two UK tours, ...
, Doctor P
Doctor P is the stage name of the English dubstep producer and DJ, Shaun Brockhurst (born 9 April 1986). Shaun has also produced drum and bass under the aliases Sounds Destructive (with Zachary Kemp, currently known as Trolley Snatcha), Slum D ...
and DJ Swan-E.
Falconer attended St. Benedict's junior school and Mosely Road School of Art. He was an unemployed plasterer
A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been ...
at the time of UB40's formation.
Norman Hassan
Norman Lamont Hassan (born 26 January 1958) is a British musician of Yemeni
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
and Welsh descent who is best known as being a member of UB40 since its foundation in 1978. Norman Lamont Hassan was born in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
to Yemeni and Welsh parents, and attended Park Hill School and later Queensbridge School in the city. He worked as a carpet fitter before joining the band UB40 in 1978.
After starting off as percussionist in 1978, he learned the trombone in 1981, when the band decided to add a brass section. He sang his first lead vocal on ''Labour of Love
''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song " Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...
''. He is also known for his on-stage dancing. Like the rest of UB40, he still lives in the City of Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
. He is also a fan of the local football club Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
. He has wide-ranging musical tastes, from reggae to soul to opera.
Brian Travers
Brian David Travers was one of the founders of the band. He played the saxophone and was also an arranger and lyricist. He had suffered from cancer since 2019 and he died in August 2021. Travers was a founding member of the socialist Workers Party of Britain in 2019.
UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro
In January 2014, Astro, with other former UB40 members Ali Campbell
Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer of the British reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, C ...
, and Mickey Virtue, announced plans to reform and record under the UB40 name. The band released their new song, "Reggae Music" as a free download in January 2014. In February, with the original band and the newly formed splinter group both due to perform in Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
under the name UB40 within a few months of each other, the new group announced a name change to 'UB40 Reunited'. Then the splinter group changed their name again, settling on 'UB40 featuring Ali, Astro, and Mickey', until late 2018 when Virtue departed the band, after which they continued touring and recording as 'UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro'. Astro died on 6 November 2021 after recording tracks for the band's new album ''Unprecedented''.
The first single from these sessions, "Sufferer", was released in February 2022, with the album due to be released by UMC on 17 June 2022.
Matt Hoy
Ali Campbell's UB40 splinter group also featured the vocalist Matt Hoy until he quit in July 2021. On the week of 20 March 2022, Hoy's new single "We Are One" appeared on the countdown as shown on ''The Heritage Chart Show with Mike Read'', one place above his former bandmates new single "Sufferer", with Hoy invited to perform his song live in the studio on the programme as broadcast of Talking Pictures TV on 10 April 2022.
Discography
*'' Signing Off'' (1980)
*'' Present Arms'' (1981)
*''UB44
''UB44'' is the third studio album of original material by UB40, released on the DEP International label in 1982. It was advertised as their 'fourth album' (hence the title) although ''Present Arms in Dub'' had been a remix album. The album r ...
'' (1982)
*''Labour of Love
''Labour of Love'' is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song " Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one ...
'' (1983)
*'' Geffery Morgan'' (1984)
*'' Baggariddim'' (1985)
*'' Rat in the Kitchen'' (1986)
*''UB40
UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the ...
'' (1988)
*'' Labour of Love II'' (1989)
*''Promises and Lies
A promise is a transaction whereby a person makes a vow or the suggestion of a guarantee.
Promise(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Promise, Oregon
* Promise, South Dakota
*Promise City, Iowa
* Promise Land, Tennessee or Promise
Film and TV
* ''P ...
'' (1993)
*''Guns in the Ghetto
''Guns in the Ghetto'' is a studio album by UB40. It was released in 1997 on the DEP International label.
Critical reception
''NME'' wrote that the band "play reggae with the edges filed off, made anodyne and palatable for people who aren't th ...
'' (1997)
*''Labour of Love III
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
'' (1998)
*''Cover Up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to :wikt:conceal, conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassment, embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own ...
'' (2001)
*'' Homegrown'' (2003)
*''Who You Fighting For?
''Who You Fighting For?'' is the fifteenth album by UB40 released on 13 June 2005. The album was nominated for the reggae album Grammy in 2006. It marks the return of the rootsier, political sound that the group cultivated during the early 198 ...
'' (2005)
*'' TwentyFourSeven'' (2008)
*'' Labour of Love IV'' (2010)
*'' Getting Over the Storm'' (2013)
*''For the Many
For or FOR may refer to:
English language
*For, a preposition
*For, a complementizer
*For, a grammatical conjunction
Science and technology
* Fornax, a constellation
* for loop, a programming language statement
* Frame of reference, in physics
...
'' (2019)
*'' Bigga Baggariddim'' (2021)
See also
* List of best-selling music artists
*List of dub artists
Dub is a subgenre of reggae which developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
This is a list of notable dub musicians, singers and producers.
0–9
*10 Foot Ganja Plant
*340ml
A
*The Aggrovators
* Augustus Clarke
* Augustus Pablo
*Aud ...
* Gary Tyler – biographical subject of a song by UB40
References
External links
UB40 official web site
UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey
UB40
at Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
UB40 discography
at Discogs
Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ub40
1978 establishments in England
A&M Records artists
British reggae musical groups
Musical groups established in 1978
Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Sibling musical groups
Virgin Records artists
20th-century saxophonists