⭐🔍🎶 Origin of the band name : UB40

How did rock band UB40

get their name  👀💡

UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. 
 UB40 have sold more than 100 million records worldwide. The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Yemeni parentage.

UB40 named themselves after the UK government's Unemployment Benefit, Form 40. The band members were all unemployed and claiming benefits in Birmingham when they formed in 1978, with the name suggested by a friend to reflect their shared financial status.

Their debut album, Signing Off, referred to leaving the unemployment roll. 
 

UB40 Bio

Inspired by the Jamaican sounds of ska and reggae, UB40 charted a long line of hits on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The group formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England, with brothers Robin and Ali Campbell — sons of the famous Scottish folk singer Ian Campbell — assembling a racially-diverse lineup that included saxophonist Brian Travers and percussionist Norman Hassan. *Signing Off*, the band's 1980 debut, was a success in the UK, where the singles "*Food for Thought*" and "*I Think It's Going to Rain Today*" both became Top 10 hits. Three years later, the band topped the charts in both the UK and USA with 1983's "*Red Red Wine*," a reggae-influenced interpretation of Neil Diamond's original. A collaboration with Chrissie Hynde on a cover of Sonny & Cher's "*I Got You Babe*" was another smash in 1985, and UB40 remained one of Britain's biggest bands for two decades. In America, the band's popularity was rekindled by 1989's *Labour of Love II *and 1993's *Promises and Lies*, both of which went platinum thanks to Top 10 hits like "*Here I Am (Come and Take Me)*," "*The Way You Do the Things You Do*," and "*(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You*." Ali Campbell quit to go solo in 2008, replaced by younger brother Duncan Campbell and Maxi Priest. UB40 remained active during the 2010s, releasing albums like 2010's *Labour of Love** IV *and 2019's *For the Many*. Health problems plagued the group during the early 2020s, though, with Duncan Campbell retiring in June 2021 after suffering a stroke. Two months later, sax player Brian Travers lost his battle with cancer, dying in Moseley, West Birmingham, at 62 years old. Astro, whose rapped vocals had appeared prominently on the band's cover of "*Red Red Wine*," also passed away that year, succumbing to a short illness at 64 years old on November 6, 2021. Matt Doyle took over on lead vocals in 2021 and then the band had a hit album in 2024, with their 45th anniversary album 'UB45' scoring the band's first top 5 album on the UK album chart in many years.

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⭐🔍🎶

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