UB40 have hit back on social media and corrected former singer Ali Campbell on a claim made about his brother, Duncan Campbell. The reggae group stated that Ali was ‘once again rewriting history’ after he alleged that Duncan replaced him in 2008 without any warning.

Although Ali claimed ‘next thing I knew, he (Duncan) had joined’, a video resurfaced of Ali revealing that Duncan asked for his blessing first before joining. Duncan has since retired from the group after suffering a stroke in 2020.

Ali is currently touring as part of his group, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and was in Zimbabwe ahead of a show last month where he spoke about his former bandmates. Repeatedly referring to UB40 as ‘the dark side’, Campbell added: ‘obviously, one is better than the other’.

Speaking to Capitalk FM, Campbell said: “There are two UB40s out there. There’s my UB40, which did have me, Astro and Mickey (Virtue), Mickey left a couple of years ago for personal reasons.

“The old guys, or the dark side as I call them, they’ve lost Brian Travers, the sax player. So they’ve lost me, they’ve lost Mickey and Astro, they’re half of what used to be UB40.

Ali Campbell referred to former band UB40 as ‘the dark side’ during a recent interview in Zimbabwe (Image: Terry Blackburn/Teessidelive)
“There’s two UB40s – that can’t be bad. But obviously, one is better than the other.”

When asked about his brother Duncan replacing him as lead singer, Ali retold his story, something that UB40 would dispute Claiming that Duncan advised Ali to ‘down tools’ and ‘stop singing’ in the band, Ali claimed that he was left out of the loop when his older brother joined.

“I was having problems with the management and I couldn’t get information that I wanted. So I used to go to Duncan and moan to him, we were close,” he told Capitalk FM.

Duncan Campbell replaced Ali in UB40 but has since retired after suffering a stroke in 2020 (Image: PA)

“Duncan advised me, he said ‘why don’t you down tools, stop singing with the band, and then they’ll have to stop and listen to you’. I took his advice and I downed tools.

“Next thing I knew, he had joined. That’s brotherly love for you, right?”

The latest interview caught the attention of UB40 on Twitter who accused their former singer of ‘once again rewriting history’. Sharing a video titled ‘Ali Campbell exposed on his lies since leaving UB40’, the band reiterated that Ali was aware of Duncan joining the band.

UB40 tweeted: “Once again Ali Campbell rewriting history! How his story has changed… very weird, he told a completely different story when previously interviewed of how Duncan called him to ask for his blessing, before taking the job.

“See here & make your own mind up!”

The video shared by the group features an interview with ITV Central where Ali states that Duncan rang him first in order to get his blessing. Ali mentions in the video that Duncan wouldn’t have joined the group if he didn’t approve of Ali’s decision.

“UB40 have put Duncan in a really precarious position. I said that at the time,” he said.

“When he phoned me and said I won’t do this if you don’t want me to, I said I can’t tell you not to do it, Dunc.

“But I think it’s a bit much to ask you to step into my shoes and to carry the show.”