UB40 members Robin Campbell and Jimmy Brown have rejected the idea that they will ever reunite with former singer and Robin’s brother, Ali Campbell.
The reggae band, who shot to fame in the Eighties with songs such as “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love”, have sold millions of records and topped the charts on a number of occasions.
Founding member Ali quit the group in 2008 after 30 years, later claiming this decision was a result of management and business disputes.
In an interview with The Trawl podcast this week, Robin and Brown said that “all the money in the world” couldn’t persuade them to reunite with Ali, while Robin addressed what he felt was a misconception around his relationship with his brother.
“The conclusion I’ve come to is that he’s done us some big favour,” Brown said. “We’ve got a brilliant singer [Matt Doyle]. He’s fantastic and he’s only 30. He’s got a fantastic voice, and you can rely on him.”
Robin insisted that the rift between him and his brother was not a family feud, and was instead a business matter.
“I’ve said this so many times, but it wasn’t a family fall-out,” he said. “It wasn’t brothers falling out.
“He left the band. And he was also closer to several members of the band than he was to me, even though he was my kid brother,” he continued.
“For instance, Brian Travers, our sax player who’s passed away, they were best pals from the age of 10, 11 years old.”
He recalled the advice their father gave them about “sharing everything equally… that was massively influenced by dad’s politics,” he said. “Massively. Our whole ethos was.
“And Ali was influenced in the same way. For him to turn his back on that whole idea was just ridiculous.”
In a 2020 interview, Ali claimed he was “kind of betrayed” by the band’s management and that was the reason for his departure.
Since 2008 he has performed in a splinter group, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, which previously included the late rapper and trumpet player Astro until his death in 2021.
Robin’s comments echo those he made in a recent interview with The Independent, where he said there was “no hope in hell” of reconciling with Ali.
“If he apologised and wanted to be my brother again, I’d have to accept that,” he said, “but really, when he decided he wasn’t my brother any more, it was a relief.”
