UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro releasing new album, ‘Unprecedented,’ dedicated to the late Astro

The UB40 spin-off group UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro will release a new studio album called Unprecedented on June 17.

The album is dedicated to Terence “Astro” Wilson, who died in November 2021 at age 64 after a short illness. Ali Campbell was UB40’s original lead singer and was a member of the popular U.K. reggae band until 2008. Astro, a vocalist, percussionist and trumpet player, joined UB40 in 1979 and left the group in 2013.

Campbell and Astro, along with fellow UB40 alum Mickey Virtue, then formed their own incarnation of the band.

Unprecedented, which you can pre-order now, will be available on CD, as a two-LP set pressed on either standard black black vinyl or limited-edition white vinyl, as a limited-edition cassette, and digitally.

In advance of Unprecedented‘s arrival, UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro has released a cover of “Sufferer,” a 1970 song by the Jamaican reggae vocal group The Kingstonians, as the lead single.

“‘Sufferer’ is a song that Astro and I have always loved, from the brilliant Kingstonians,” says Ali. “Astro was so proud of our version of this song, as am I…This song is more poignant and special than I ever realized after Astro heartbreakingly passed away after recording this album. We want to keep his memory alive through his music and this song and album.”

Now known as UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell, the band will be playing three U.S. shows next month — on May 14 in Las Vegas, May 15 in Redondo Beach, California, and May 16 in San Diego. Check out their full tour schedule at UB40.org.

Here’s the Unprecedented track list:

“Caught You in a Lie”
“Do Yourself a Favour”
“Emperors Wore No Clothes”
“Happy Includes Everyone”
“Heaven in Her Eyes”
“Lean on Me” (In Aid of NHS Charities Together)
“Lean on Me”
“Mellow”
“Stay Another Day”
“Sufferer”
“Sunday Morning Coming Down”
“Unprecedented”
“We’ll Never Find Another Love”
“What Have I Done”