UB40 say they wouldn’t reunite with former singer Ali Campbell for “all the money in the world”

nme.com:

UB40 have said they wouldn’t reunite with their former frontman Ali Campbell for “all the money in the world”.Campbell was a co-founding member of the Birmingham reggae and pop band, who formed back in 1978.

He departed the line-up in 2008, with Mickey Virtue quitting shortly afterwards. Astro also left the group in 2013.Campbell’s brother Duncan took over the role of lead vocalist in 2008, but he retired from performing live in 2021 after suffering a seizure following a stroke in 2020.

He was replaced by Matt Doyle (formerly of reggae band Kioko), who remains in the current version of UB40.Ali’s older brother Robin is still in the band too on guitar, as is Jimmy Brown on drums.

The pair recently appeared on the podcast The Trawl, where they opened up about Ali’s heated exit in the late ’00s.“What was happening was there were less and less records being sold with the rise of technology,” Brown explained. “And we were having to tighten our belts.”He continued, recalling Ali’s excessive spending. “Ali got himself a new squeeze, a new girlfriend, you know, and rejected his family.