UB40, the English reggae and pop band, that won global acclamation in the 80s and 90s, has come out to clarify that they won’t be performing in Uganda in December as perceived by some Ugandans.
The clarification follows an announcement last week Friday by Nex Media Services which said it plans to fly in ‘UB4O featuring Ali Campbell’ for the media group’s 15th anniversary concert scheduled for December 21.
Popular events promoter, Aly Alibhai of Talent Africa said he had met Ali Campbell (UB40 frontman and founding member who left the original UB40 in 2008) in Nairobi in 2020, and interested him in doing a show in Uganda. Campbell and Astro (the former member of UB40 who died in 2021) had been in Nairobi for the Real Labour of Love Tour show in Feb 2020 in Nairobi.
READ MORE: UB40’s ex-frontman, Ali Campbell returns to Kampala for a concert 15 years after the band split
Since Next Media Services announced the concert, there has been a lot of buzz, part of it being the misinformation that UB40 (which is a different band) will be performing in Uganda. A lot of the confusion is driven by the fact that most Ugandans are ignorant about the fact that UB40 suffered a separation in 2008 after Ali Campbell quit the band.
Naive Ugandans, compounded by equally misinformation by the media, have been made to think UB40 is returning to Uganda which isn’t the case.
In cases where Ugandans have tagged the UB40 social media accounts in their comments, the band has clarified that it is not part of the December concert. It is this mixup that must have prompted UB40 to put out a formal statement to correct the narrative, as any entity looking to protect its reputation would.
“UB40 sincerely apologizes to fans in Uganda and clarifies that we will NOT be performing in the upcoming concert which is falsely billed as “UB40” or “UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell,” UB40 wrote in statement released on their website on Monday.
“The official UB40 Group distances itself from the upcoming show in Uganda, taking part at Kololo Independence Grounds on December 21st, following headlines and publications promoting a ‘UB40’ concert, hailing a return for the first time since 2008.”
The band also flagged Talent Africa’s YouTube video which stated that “This will be the second and last time UB40 will be coming to Uganda” as untrue.
In their communication, organizers have repeatedly insinuated that this is a return of UB40 in Uganda and that it will be their last time to perform in Uganda.
As much as the intention of such a narrative is to create FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and drive ticket sales, it is a false narrative. Simply because, the organizers have no control over UB40’s tours and as such they cannot purport to know which is going to be the band’s next/last show in Uganda.
Last week as Next Media Services announced the concert, the Deputy Group CEO, Joe Kigozi, said; “UB40 were here in 2008 and coming back to Uganda is a milestone. It is something you will never see again. So UB40 will be coming back to Uganda for the second and last time.”
“The only way (for Next Media Services) to give back to Ugandans is to bring UB40”
Again, by using ‘UB40’ without being particular that it is Ali’s band that is coming, Kigozi’s statements were vague and misleading, and can easily be branded as false advertising.
“UB40’s management want to make it clear that the claims are completely untrue and that the brand hopes to return to Uganda in the future,” UB40 added in their statement.
“Former vocalist Ali Campbell, who left UB40 over 15 years ago in 2008, is currently slated to perform in Ugamda, purporting to feature the original band. He is touring with the name “UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell’. However, there are in fact no members of UB40 in this group and ex-member Ali Campbell is misleading fans and the general public by billing the tour as UB40 Featuring Ali Cambell.”
UB40 went on to clarify that there is no single member of UB40 in Ali’s backing group and that none of his band members has ever performed with UB40 or contributed to a UB40 record.
“The official UB40 band wishes to make it clear that the current concert is in NO way associated with UB40 and the founding members of the legendary group. The show on the 21st December will see Mr Ali Campbell being accompanied by a backing band of session musicians.”
The statement is likely going to leave a dent in Next Media and Talent Africa’s marketing campaign to woo both show goers and sponsors to the event. Now, the task won’t be only selling the tickets, they will also endure the tedious process of explaining the distinction between Ali Campbell and UB40.
Not to mention that issues regarding false advertising could leave the reputation for both Next Media and Talent Africa bruised.
We couldn’t get a hold of reps from either Next Media or Talent Africa for a comment, by press time.
Background about UB40’s troubles
UB40 enjoyed global success and won hearts for thirty years until January 2008 when the band leader, Ali Campbell announced he was leaving the band, citing financial difficulties and other management-related frustrations.
Their concert in Lugogo Cricket Oval, Kampala in February 2008 was the last show they did together as a band.
At the time, the tension within the band was too bad to the extent that Ali didn’t speak to the rest of the members during their time in Kampala, according to Ali’s brother Robin Campbell (who to date remains a member of the original UB40 band).
Recounting their time in Kampala in 2008, Robin said; “Ali didn’t even talk to us. He had his own bus and hotel. He left the band after the show and hasn’t spoken to us since. We spent the next five years proving to everybody that we could still be UB40.”
After Campbell’s exit, he formed his own ‘UB40’ and was joined by Michael Virtue ‘Mickey’ and later Astro (aka Terence Wilson) both members of the original band. This new group was known as ‘UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey’.
Astro passed away after a very short illness in November 2021 after they’d finished their fourth album – Unprecedented.
Mickey left the group in 2018, leaving Campbell as the only remaining member of the original band. Today, Campbell’s faction which largely consists of new recruits goes by the name ‘UB40 featuring Ali Campbell’.
The war of the rights to the name “UB40” which ensued after the 2008 split would eventually cost both sides (Ali’s band and the original one where his brother Robin remained) £250,000 and lead to both Robin and Campbell being declared bankrupt.
The other UB40 (which maintains the name UB40) currently has four of the original members Robin Campbell, Earl Falconer, Jimmy Brown, and Norman Hassan who continue to play together to this day.
Duncan Campbell (another brother of Ali and Robin) who had replaced Ali retired in 2021 citing health reasons.
