Ali has not had any contact with his UB40 co-founder Robin Campbell or their older brother Duncan since 2008

Astro, Ali Campbell, and Mickey Virtue

UB40 chart star singer Ali Campbell has not spoken to his brothers for SIX YEARS since the Birmingham band’s acrimonious split, the Sunday Mercury can reveal.

Ali has not had any contact with his UB40 co-founder Robin Campbell or their older brother Duncan since 2008, and he does not intend to speak to them anytime soon.

The 55-year-old star revealed the depth of the family rift as he spoke about his breakaway

The original group split up in 2008 with Brian Travers, Jimmy Brown, Earl Falconer, Norman Hassan, Robin Campbell and Duncan Campbell forming a rival band, and sparking a bitter row.

Ali said his planned UB40 tour and, the group’s new album, was his way of reclaiming ‘his band’.

“The split was acrimonious,” he told the Sunday Mercury yesterday. “It was very bad.

“I’m no longer on speaking terms with my two brothers.

“When it was falling apart, Duncan said to me ‘Stop singing, do your own thing and that way you’ll get what you’re entitled to’.

“But when I left, I found out Duncan had joined the band in my place. I was furious.

“If you went to see The Rolling Stones and Derek Jagger turned up instead of Mick you’d feel a bit peeved.

“I haven’t spoken to Duncan or Robin for six years now. It has torn the family apart.

“I was the founder member in 1979 and I started it to promote reggae music.

“I was forced to leave the band five years ago and I’ve sat back and watched the other boys – the ‘dark side’ as I call them – destroying the legacy of my band, playing smaller and smaller venues.

“I have watched my brother destroy my songs.

“When they released their album, and it was a country album, that was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I thought ‘Sod it, I’ll take my band back and I’ll reclaim the good name of UB40.”

Ali says that when he announced last year that he, Astro and Mickey would be touring and performing under the name UB40, the rival members threatened legal action to stop them using the name.

“But since then I’ve heard nothing from their solicitors,” he added. “Besides, I’m not worried.

“No-one owns the name UB40 apart from the Government because it was a Government document – to sign on for unemployment benefit – so no judge in the land will ever rule in their favour.

“The dark side have never once said it isn’t the original line-up, and my older brother Duncan has never recorded any hits, so it’s just nonsense.”

Ali says it is now up to the fans to decide who they really want. And that, according to bandmate Astro, is Ali’s version.

“Fans I’ve spoken to have told me that as far as they were concerned UB40 has to have myself and Ali in it,” he said.

Ali now lives with his wife and children in Christchurch, Dorset, while Mickey is in Rednal and Astro in Worcestershire.

UB40 will be headlining at the Bearded Theory festival at Catton Hall in Derbyshire on May 25. Their world tour began last week in Nigeria and resumes on April 2 when they perform in Dubai and then runs until the end of August.

Astro said: “It feels fantastic to be back, like slipping into an old pair of shoes. It’s like time stood still and nothing has changed.”

Ali explains that, in between the globetrotting, they wanted to return to the UK for the Bearded Theory festival, which was voted ‘Best Small Festival in the UK’.

“It’s always exciting to do new things and this festival is great for us because we’re the perfect festival band,” he said.

“We had 40 top 20 hits in the 1980s and 90s, and will be singing all of those at the festival.”