UB40 to play Birmingham show

Fans can look forward to a greatest hits set from the most successful reggae band of all time.

The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times.

They have sold more than 70 million records worldwide and their hits include two Billboard Hot 100 number ones with Red Red Wine and Can’t Help Falling in Love.

Both also topped the UK Singles Chart, as did the band’s version of I Got You Babe. Their two most successful albums, Labour of Love (1983) and Promises and Lies (1993), reached number one on the UK Albums Chart.

The band split in January 2008, when frontman Ali Campbell left. He was followed shortly after by keyboardist Mickey Virtue and Astro, who left in November 2013.

The show follows a successful year for the band, who released For The Many in March on the Shoestring record label.

Singer Robin Campbell said the title was nicked from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party mantra.

He said one of the toughest things for the band these days was working out what songs to play – because there are so many.

“I decide on what we are going to play though it can be a difficult decision, the rest of the band either like it or complain.

“The fans though want to hear the hits, that is what made them like you, it is a joy though to play the songs people know and love.

“We always try the best we can and move it around a bit to keep it fresh.

“There will always be a few people who come up to you at the end of the show and say you didn’t play this track or that track.”

For a while, Robin lived in a home that had been owned by fellow Brummie rock star Jeff Lynne.

“Jeff is the main man in ELO and yes I did buy his house, it was built in the 1500s and is a Grade 2 listed building but we sold it because our kids grew up and moved out and it was far too big for me and my partner.

“It was a fantastic place to live in but we had to keep spending a lot of money on it for the upkeep – it was basically a bottomless pit.

“We lived there for over 20 years but it physically got too much for us to maintain the upkeep of the place. We now live in a little cottage about 10 minutes away,” he explains.