Original UB40 Lead Vocalists To Reunite After Six Years
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Written by Jon Stickler
Original UB40 lead vocalist Astro (pictured, far right) is to join UB40 founder and former frontman Ali Campbell for the pair’s first performance together in nearly six years.
Astro will join the line up for Ali Campbell’s December 6 concert at London's IndigO2, together with original UB40 keyboardist Mickey Virtue, who has been playing with Campbell since the pair left the band in February 2008. Astro said:
"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.”
Astro announced his split with the band last week. Addressing the situation once more, he added:
“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.”
Speaking about his own departure six years ago, 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 lineup and they haven’t been very transparent about that at all.”
Best known for their hits Red Red Wine and Can’t Help Falling In Love, UB40 are one of the most successful reggae acts of all time, selling over 70 million records. Formed in 1979 in Birmingham, the band’s initial line-up lasted for 30 years until the 2008 departure of Campbell and Virtue.
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