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Original UB40 vocalists announce reunion

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 26 November 2013

Having just quit UB40, vocalist Astro has announced that he will reunite with two other founder (and now ex) members of the group, original frontman Ali Campbell and keyboard player Mickey Virtue, for a live show next week. Campbell and Virtue both left UB40 in 2008 citing issues with the outfit’s management.

Astro told CMU: “It’s going to be great working with Ali again after all this time. We started on a mission to promote reggae music and that mission is still ongoing. Onwards and upwards!”

Campbell added: “We originally formed UB40 to promote reggae. It was never about promoting individual band members – it’s about the music and the fans. Nothing else matters. Welcome home Astro!”

Discussing his split from UB40, Astro said: “I informed management and our agent several weeks ago that I would not perform until various outstanding issues were cleared up. I also advised them not to use my name or image in any tour publicity so as not to mislead fans. I now felt I needed to inform the fans myself, so they were fully aware and would not go to a concert in the hope of seeing me”.

Of his own departure and the subsequent years, which included various band members going bankrupt in 2011, Campbell said: “It was a very acrimonious split and it remains so. I consider the whole band as my brothers – including my two real brothers who are in the current line-up – and for six years we haven’t said a word to each other. It’s very sad to see what they’ve done to the legacy of UB40. It’s not the original line-up and they haven’t been very transparent about that at all”.

The trio will play IndiO2 in the O2 dome complex on 6 Dec.