Published on July 6th, 2022 | by Darren Paltrowitz

UB40’s Jimmy Brown & Robin Campbell On The New “Bigga Baggariddim” Tour & Album, Neil Diamond, UK Reggae & More

Having sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, UB40 — comprised of Jimmy Brown (drums), Robin Campbell (guitar/vocals), Earl Falconer (bass/vocals), Norman Lamont Hassan (percussion/vocals), Martin Meredith (keyboards/WX7/saxophone), Tony Mullings (keyboards), Laurence Parry (trumpet/flugal/trombone), Ian Thompson (saxophone) and new lead vocalist Matt Doyle — is an English reggae and pop multi-cultural band originally formed in Birmingham, England. With more than 50 singles hitting the U.K. Singles Chart, UB40 has been touring worldwide since 1978.

UB40’s aforementioned singer Matt Doyle joined the band as lead vocalist in 2021, taking over for a retired Duncan Campbell. The band asked Doyle to come onboard after his group Kioko opened for UB40 at The Royal Albert Hall in 2018, later supporting UB40 on its subsequent UK and European tours. Doyle’s lead vocals are also featured on the track “You Don’t Call Anymore” from Bigga Baggariddim, as recently released last year. In support of Bigga Baggariddim, next month sees the kick-off of the U.S. leg of UB40’s Bigga Baggariddim Tour, as also including The Original Wailters Featuring Al Anderson, Maxi Priest and Big Mountain; it kicks off on August 18, 2022 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

On July 1, 2022, I had the pleasure of speaking with UB40 co-founders Jimmy Brown and Robin Campbell via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond Bigga Baggariddim and Matt Doyle’s joining UB40, we also talked about Birmingham’s reggae scene, Neil Diamond and future band goals. More on UB40, its members and its upcoming tour dates can be found online by clicking here, here and here.

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Tags: Birmingham, England, Jimmy Brown, Neil Diamond, reggae, Robin Campbell, UB40

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal.Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."