Jimmy Brown has had 50 singles in the UK charts with his band UB40. But when he takes time to evaluate his life, it’s not the music that he deems his defining success.
“My greatest achievement is a functioning family, which I’m very proud of,” tells the 65-year-old drummer. “That will always make me happier than being number one.
“Having a family teaches you what happiness means. If they’re happy, you’re happy. And there are plenty of successful musicians who are not happy.”
The father of four daughters and grandfather of three is reflecting on his career as the band releases the album of their remixed hits, UB45, to mark 45 years as a band last year. That will be followed up with the Red Red Wine tour, playing in Auckland and Christchurch in October.
It’s midnight in the UK and Jimmy’s in no rush to finish chatting with the Weekly, even though his three-year-old grandson is likely to wake him up in a few hours.
“I didn’t become a musician to get up early in the morning, but he is gorgeous and wakes me up, saying, ‘Granddad, get up!’ He’s a box of tricks.
“Sometimes he will give me all his toys, sometimes I’ll walk into a room and he’ll put his hand up and say, ‘Go now, Granddad.’ I love babies and toddlers, they’re just absolutely wonderful company.”
UB40 was formed in 1978 by a group of Birmingham teenage friends named after the UK’s unemployment form code. The group went on to sell more than 70 million records worldwide, with hits including Red Red Wine, One in Ten and Don’t Break My Heart.
Elizabeth, the love of Jimmy’s life, has never broken his heart. The pair has one of the longest-surviving marriages in the music world. Now in their sixties, the couple met when they were both at school.
“There’s been ups and downs. She’s half Jamaican and half Irish, so as you can imagine, that’s quite a volatile mix,” he jests.
“We’ve grown up together. We partied a lot and had competitions about who could drink the other under the table. But it got to the point where you’ve got to just rein it in. We eventually had to get out of that party mode of the nineties.
“If I never go to another party for the rest of my life, that’s fine. I like being somewhere quiet, in the bosom of the family. That’s all you really need.”
But the pair has reached a stage in their life where they are as content to have time apart too.
“If I’ve been home too long, she will say, ‘Haven’t you got a tour to go to?’, so she can get the remote control back!” he laughs. “Obviously she misses me rubbing her feet every night.
“I have four daughters aged 26 to 43. They’ve grown up with Dad coming in and out. I was in their routine, I did the school run and the shopping. You have to do it the way my wife runs the house.
“When the girls all get together, you can’t get a word in edgewise. We’re a big family if we go out – it’s 13 people. That’s why I love being on the road – I can have a room to myself, I can shut the door and it’s also really quiet. It’s beautiful.
“I really like doing nothing. Absolutely nothing, not even the TV or music on. It’s underrated.”
Elizabeth has often toured with Jimmy and they have some dear Kiwi friends. The first time the couple came to New Zealand was in 1982 and they have been at least a dozen times since.
“You get to know people and places, and New Zealand is one of the few countries where I would actually live,” Jimmy says.
In so many ways, UB40 is his family too, although there has been a well-documented family rift with founding members Ali Campbell and Mickey Virtue leaving the fold in 2008 in a move that tore their band apart and resulted in years of legal wrangling.
New lead singer Matt Doyle is the nephew of founder and percussionist Norman Hassan, and Matt Campbell is fellow founding member Robin Campbell’s son – and Ali’s nephew.
“We certainly like to keep it in the family,” explains Jimmy. “We’re bringing up the next generation. It’s a really positive atmosphere now. We keep doing this because we love it. We are the luckiest people in the world.”
Follow the links here to get your tickets to the Red Red Wine tour shows in Christchurch on October 8, or Auckland on October 10 2024.
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