UB40

A dole form for a name

The band formed in Birmingham in December 1978 and took their name from Unemployment Benefit Form 40. Saxophonist Brian Travers later described the method: the group commandeered a cellar and rehearsed every day, nine till five, for roughly a year before playing their first gig at the Hare and Hounds in Kings Heath. In October 2011 PRS for Music mounted a Heritage Award plaque on that pub.

The first release was a double A-side, 'King' backed with 'Food for Thought', issued in February 1980 by Graduate Records, a Dudley independent. It reached number four in the UK and sold close to half a million copies. 'My Way of Thinking' followed in June and peaked at six. Signing Off arrived on 29 August 1980, going to number two on the albums chart and number one on the independent chart; Sounds gave it five stars and called it almost perfect.

Covers, and the decade they owned

The commercial turn came with Labour of Love in 1983, a record of reggae covers that went to number one in the UK and produced 'Red Red Wine', a British chart-topper that year and a US number one when it was re-released in 1988. 'I Got You Babe', cut with Chrissie Hynde, also reached number one, and the version of '(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You' became a worldwide hit. Promises and Lies in 1993 gave them a third UK number one album.

The tally behind all of that is more than fifty UK chart singles and over 100 million records sold. Across the 1980s they spent 214 weeks on the UK singles chart, level with Madness. They were nominated for Best British Group at the 1984 Brit Awards and have picked up four Grammy nominations for Best Reggae Album.

The split, the deaths, and a new singer

Ali Campbell left on 24 January 2008 after thirty years, citing management and business disputes. His brother Duncan took the lead vocal from April 2008. Keyboardist Mickey Virtue and toaster Astro eventually went with Ali, and the two camps have toured separately ever since — this band as UB40, the other as UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, which ran its own Big Love Tour through the United States in 2026. There has been no reunion and none is planned.

Duncan Campbell retired in June 2021 after a stroke, and Matt Doyle, previously of the Birmingham reggae band Kioko, took over in July 2021. Then came two losses in three months: Brian Travers died of cancer on 22 August 2021, aged 62, and Astro died on 6 November 2021, aged 64.

Four founding members remain in the touring line-up: Robin Campbell on guitar and vocals, Jimmy Brown on drums, Earl Falconer on bass and Norman Hassan on percussion. Around them the group runs to eleven on stage, with Ian Thompson on saxophone, Laurence Parry on trumpet, Gilly G toasting, Jahred Gordon on keyboards and Robin's son Matt Campbell on backing vocals. Robin Campbell has said Doyle's handling of the older material gave the catalogue a new lease of life; Doyle has described starting out with imposter syndrome that passed quickly, since his own writing had been shaped by the band he joined.

Where things stand in September 2026

The most recent studio record is UB45, released in April 2024 for the band's forty-fifth anniversary, mixing re-recordings of older material with new songs; it entered the UK chart at number five. A follow-up called Unstoppable was announced on 3 November 2025 for a 2026 release. By May 2026, after a European run, it was recorded and waiting to be mixed, with Robin Campbell saying the group had written close to 300 songs and now leans on its younger members for fresh angles on familiar subjects. On 18 September 2026 the band announced the album had slipped to early 2027, blaming unexpected health problems in the studio production team.

The summer was busy regardless. They played Don Valley Bowl in Sheffield on 12 July 2026 and the Electric Paradise festival at Milton Keynes National Bowl on 8 August, and appeared at the Fête de l'Humanité in France on 12 September. A booking at Festival Musicalarue in Luxey was cancelled on 31 July over safety concerns from a nearby wildfire.

On 3 August 2026 the group announced six dates in Australia and New Zealand for May 2027 — Perth on the 17th, Adelaide the 19th, Melbourne the 20th, Sydney the 22nd, Brisbane the 23rd and Auckland the 26th — with Soul II Soul supporting at every show. The band is framing that run as the start of its fifty-years-in-music celebrations.

On the road

The Unstoppable Tour of the United States and Canada was announced on 27 January 2026 and covers forty markets, the band's fifth straight North American run and their largest in some years, with an expanded Canadian leg. It opened at HISTORY in Ottawa on 18 September 2026 and closes at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, on 15 November, working through amphitheatres, ballrooms and performing arts centres including stops in New York and Los Angeles. Tickets at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, New Jersey, on 26 September run from $57 to $134. Booking in North America is handled by Zach Hyde at Big Wave Agency.

Robin Campbell's line on the announcement was blunt enough: the title says how the band is feeling. Drummer Jimmy Brown said he was looking forward to getting back on the road. Doyle has said the group travels by bus rather than flying wherever it can, because it gives them time to talk and see the country, and that the tour's title is meant as a counterweight to how hopeless things feel elsewhere.