A low baseline hums, drifting through smoky rooms where young boys once lingered. Not for the music, but for the scraps of rice and juice left over from the blues dances they would hang around.
In the backstreets of Birmingham, long before global tours and platinum records, young Ali Campbell stood outside shebeens, drawn to something that would change him and the world.
Reggae music.
“We’d hear the reggae music, sounds like ‘Cheerio Baby’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ that we later covered on the Labor and Love series,” Campbell said.
Today, Campbell is known worldwide as the unmistakable voice behind UB40, the British reggae band that helped bring the genre into the mainstream.
As lead singer and co-founder, Campbell has sold more than 60 million records, achieved four No. 1 global singles and released more than two dozen studio albums.
“It’s been a wild journey, really,” he said, “and I’m still working on an album today.”
UB40 itself was born from humble beginnings. The band’s name comes from the UK unemployment benefit form.
“We were very lucky,” Campbell said. “We were unemployed. Hence, unemployment benefit 40. That was the card that you had to have to sign on the dole and to get your money from the state. And then, within six months, we’d made our first album and learned how to play instruments.”
After being discovered by Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders during a small London gig, UB40 joined her band on tour.
“And off we went,” Campbell said. “We’ve been touring the world ever since.”
Their journey has included adapting songs like “Red Red Wine” and “(I Can’t Help) Falling in Love With You” into reggae classics, helping the genre reach audiences far beyond its Caribbean roots.
Campbell believes reggae’s influence is still deeply embedded in modern music.
“Reggae hasn’t outlived its own cool like a lot of other music forms do,” he said. “It’s been so influential in contemporary dance music. You wouldn’t have hip hop, drum and bass, techno — you wouldn’t have any of that without reggae.”
His departure from the original UB40 lineup stemmed from a disagreement with and distrust of their management. Being vindicated by that, he started his own version of UB40.
“I was the lead singer who started the original,” Campbell said. “It was me singing on all the original hits… I wrote all of the melodies, you know. So we’re the real deal, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell was the real deal and the other UB40 more like a tribute band.”
Now performing as UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, he continues to tour from the South Pacific to the United States and beyond.
Campbell shows no signs of slowing down.
“You carry on until you drop,” he said.
Yet, for all the accolades and miles traveled, Campbell said his mission remains about bringing people together in the spirit of joy, collaboration, cooperation, freedom and unity.
That spirit is evident in his three-generational audience.
“We’ve got our original fans, their kids, who were indoctrinated by their parents with our stuff, and there’re their kids as well,” Campbell said. “So it’s lovely.”
Looking back, Campbell sees a clear purpose in the music he has spent his life making. “I think that was our mission,” he said, “to popularize reggae and to popularize dub.”
Fans will have the chance to experience that mission firsthand when UB40 featuring Ali Campbell brings the BIG LOVE TOUR 2026 to the Gas City Performing Arts Center on Aug. 11. With decades of hits and a legacy rooted in rhythm, the man behind the voice is still doing what he’s always done: spreading reggae, one song at a time.
