UB40 are an English reggae and pop 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. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. UB40 have sold more than 70 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.
Diana King is a Jamaican singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They are best known for their hit 1995 single "Shy Guy" and their remake of "I Say a Little Prayer" which was featured on the soundtrack to My Best Friend's Wedding.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a song recorded by American singer and actor Elvis Presley for his fourth soundtrack album, Blue Hawaii (1961). It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and published by Gladys Music, Inc. The melody is based on "Plaisir d'amour", a popular French love song composed in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini. The song was initially written from the perspective of a woman as "Can't Help Falling in Love with Him", which explains the first and third line ending on "in" and "sin" rather than words rhyming with "you".
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.
Inner Circle, also known as The Inner Circle Band or The Bad Boys of Reggae, are a Jamaican reggae band formed in Kingston in 1968. The band first backed The Chosen Few in the early 1970s before joining with successful solo artist Jacob Miller and releasing a string of records. This era of the band ended with Miller's death in a car crash in 1980.
Big Mountain is an American band known for its remake of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way", which became a top 10 hit single in the US in early 1994, reaching No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 and No. 2 in the UK.
Francella Ruby Turner MBE is a British Jamaican R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and actress.
No Reservations is the debut studio album by British-Asian musician Apache Indian, released in January 1993 by Island Records and their subsidiary Mango. The musician and singer recorded the album primarily in Jamaica's Tuff Gong studios with producers including Simon and Diamond, Bobby Digital, Phil Chill and Sly Dunbar. It follows, and includes, Apache Indian's 1990–91 singles – "Move Over India", "Chok There" and "Don Raja" – which saw him pioneer a fusion of Jamaican ragga and Indian bhangra later known as bhangramuffin.
"Close to You" is a song by English reggae singer Maxi Priest. It was released in 1990 as the lead single from his fifth album Bonafide (1990). "Close to You" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, and number seven on the UK Singles Chart.
Labour of Love is the fourth studio album by British reggae band UB40, and their first album of cover versions. Released in the UK on 12 September 1983, the album is best known for containing the song "Red Red Wine", a worldwide number-one single, but it also includes three further UK top 20 hits, "Please Don't Make Me Cry", "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Cherry Oh Baby". The album reached number one in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands and the top five in Canada, but only reached number 39 in the US on its original release, before re-entering the Billboard 200 in 1988 and peaking at number 14 as a result of "Red Red Wine"'s delayed success in the US.
Cover Up is the fourteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40, released on 22 October 2001 through Virgin Records and DEP International. Recorded with co-producer Gerry Parchment at DEP International Studios in Birmingham, the album followed a musical break for the group. It exemplifies their distinct reggae/pop sound and uses programmed rhythms as the basis for songs; the incorporation of the latter caused friction within the band and singer Ali Campbell later criticised the production style.
Homegrown is the sixteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40, released on 3 November 2003 through Virgin Records and DEP International. The follow-up to Cover Up (2001), the album was produced by UB40 at DEP International Studios in Birmingham. Described by Robin Campbell as an old-fashioned UB40 record, Homegrown features both love songs and political numbers. As with Cover Up, its use of programmed rhythms was the cause of musical differences in the band and was later criticised by frontman Ali Campbell.
"It Keeps Rainin'" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter and pianist Fats Domino in 1961 and written by Domino, Dave Bartholomew and Bobby Charles. It was released in the US on Imperial 5753, and in the UK on London HLP-9374, as the B-side of "I Just Cry". The song was covered by Bitty McLean in 1993, becoming a chart success in Europe and New Zealand.
Alistair Ian Campbell is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40.
The discography of UB40, a British reggae band, consists of 20 studio albums, 19 compilation albums, six live albums, four remix albums, 65 singles and a number of appearances with other artists.
"Here I Am (Come and Take Me)" is a 1973 song by Al Green, the second single released from his album Call Me. The song reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the Hot Soul Singles chart. It was certified as a gold record by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Speed 2: Cruise Control is the soundtrack album for the 1997 film of the same name. It was released by Virgin Records in May 1997, nearly a month before the film's release. Because of the film's Caribbean setting, the soundtrack features a variety of reggae music from artists including Common Sense, Jimmy Cliff, Maxi Priest and Shaggy. UB40, Carlinhos Brown and Tamia also have songs on the soundtrack, and appear in the film as entertainers on the cruise ship.
Marvin Cornell Elliott, better known by his stage name Marvin Priest, is a British-born, Australian-based singer-songwriter. In November 2011 Priest released his debut studio album, Beats & Blips, in Australia, which spawned the top ten single "Own This Club" on the ARIA Singles Chart, as well as top one-hundred singles "Take Me Away" and "Feel the Love". "Own This Club" was also a top ten hit in New Zealand. At the APRA Music Awards of 2012 the track, which was co-written by Priest with Antonio Egizii and David Musumeci, won an award for Urban Work of the Year and was nominated for Most Played Australian Work.
Raging Fyah is five-piece reggae band from Kingston, Jamaica, formed in 2006. They released their first album in 2011, and in 2016 signed to VP Records, with third album Everlasting earning them a Grammy nomination.
A Real Labour of Love is the third studio album by UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey. It peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums Chart, making it the highest-charting UB40 album since Promises and Lies, which reached number-one in 1993.
