UB40

Born: 1978-06-01 Birmingham, England, UK

UB40 are a British dub / reggae pop music band formed in 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band is one of the most culturally diverse dub reggae bands with musicians of English, Scottish, Irish, Yemeni and Jamaican parentage. The band is named from the paper form issued by the UK government’s Department of Health and Social Security at the time of the band’s formation for claiming unemployment benefit (UB40 = Unemployment Benefit, Form 40). UB40 were influenced by the many Blues Parties they attended as teenagers in the multiracial Balsall Heath area of Birmingham, their love of ska and reggae inspired such original tracks as King, Madam Med ...