THEY’VE come a long way since making music in a basement in Birmingham back in the 1970s, but UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue are stronger than ever.

All three were the founding members of the iconic reggae band, who have enjoyed more than 40 years of success with their inimitable sound.

Now the band is preparing to embark on another busy year of touring both here in the UK and abroad.

They will be visiting Taunton in June to perform at the Racecourse.

“We’re really looking forward to coming to Taunton,” says Astro.

“I used to take the kids down to Somerset all the time when they were growing up, it’s a lovely part of the world and this will be our fourth time performing in Somerset.

“Because we’ll be performing in June, we’re hoping that the sun will be shining and that families can enjoy a picnic and a bit of a party while we perform, it’s going to be great, but you never can rely on the weather here.”

The band’s performance in Taunton is part of their National Grandslam Tour which will see them perform in sports venues up and down the country.

The band will be joined by an eight-piece reggae band, special guest Billy Ocean, The Original Wailers and Raging Fyah.

So what is a Grandslam?

Astro adds: “The idea of Grandslam is a new way of performing for us.

“It’s about helping venues that perhaps don’t have a lot of sport on in the summer but which are fantastic areas, like Taunton Racecourse, to stay open and keep going during their off-sport seasons.

“It’s about uniting sport and music and people and just getting everyone together to have a good time.

“Touring is touring, and some elements are always the same, you’ll always have the audience and the stage and lights and all of that but it’s about finding ways to bring it all together to create music and memories for everyone.”

And touring is something the band is well used to now, having not long returned from another “chaotic” year.

“It’s been a crazy 12 months for us, we kicked off our tour in Dubai, before heading to Papa New Guinea, South Africa, the US twice, all part of our Red Red Wine tour,” says Astro.

“And 2017 is going to be just as chaotic, as the day after Boxing Day we’ll be heading off to New Zealand, so I’ll barely have time to digest my Christmas Pudding before we’re off again but it’s all great.

“We’ve been to New Zealand before and it’s fantastic, I’m smitten with the place.

“We just toured around performing at all these amazing wine venues it was great.”

Astro reunited with Ali and Mickey in 2013 to form UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue and has not looked back since.

He added: “It’s fantastic being back with Ali and Mickey and the reggae band.

“It feels like a tighter band now, and we’re just having a rollercoaster with everything we’re doing.

“The musicians we perform with are really brilliant and there’s no egos to contend with in the band or temper tantrums, it’s just been such a pleasure.

“We’ve not long released our new album UB40 unplugged which came about after doing a heap of radio performances.

“The studios at most of the radio stations are tiny and so we couldn’t fit the whole band in but it meant we created some great acoustic material of some of our most classic hits including Red Red Wine and Rat In Mi Kitchen, it’s not like anything we’ve done before but it sounds great.”

And to celebrate the release of the new album, the band has also actually brought out their very own Red Red Wine – after their classic, which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in August 1983.

Astro said: “It’s fantastic and it tastes great, there’s only 10,000 bottles so you’ll have to snap one up quick but the album and the wine make great presents for people.”

n UB40 will be performing at the Taunton Racecourse on Sunday, June 11 with special guest Billy Ocean, Raging Fyah and The Original Wailers.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit ticketmaster.

co.uk