“Oh, of course, it’s sad. Stuff happened that should never have happened,” he acknowledges. “It was all very messy and very silly. But I’m better off out of it all. I’m happier without all of that nonsense.”
Ali remains critical of his former bandmates: “There’s only four of the original line-up in what I call ‘The dark side version.’ And they weren’t the most important ones in the band.
“I’ve no wish to go backward with them. I’m happy going forward with my band. Every time the dark side version plays, it takes away the legacy of my band.”
Now performing under the name “UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell”, the second incarnation of the band has announced a substantial arena tour for the upcoming year.
Ali takes pride in performing in regions where few global artists venture: “I’ve taken my band to 72 different countries,” he notes. “We’re very lucky to have a truly worldwide fanbase.
He recalls a peculiar encounter in the Solomon Islands, where naked men with tribal attire greeted them with blowpipes, eventually playing UB40 tunes on panpipes.
“We followed their bare bottoms back to the airport, which is where they whipped out panpipes and started playing UB40 tunes. It was the most ridiculous thing that’s ever happened to me. I thought, ‘How do they even know about UB40 music?'”
Ali Campbell’s musical journey began in the diverse suburb of Birmingham, Balsall Heath, where he grew up surrounded by West Indian and Asian influences.
“I grew up listening to reggae music as it was coming together. I always was a little reggae fanatic, but not many people at school understood what I was talking about.
