REGGAE legends UB40 have confirmed extra UK live dates in the autumn and are now including a one-night visit to Sunderland Empire on Friday, October 9.

The Getting Over The Storm tour begins on Friday, October 2 at De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill and ends at Cardiff’s new state-of the-art Tramshed venue on Saturday, October 24t – by which time the band will have completed 90 UK shows and performed to more than 170,000 people since the tour began in March last year, making it the biggest UK tour of the band’s career.

UB40 are Robin Campbell (co-lead vocals and guitar), Duncan Campbell (lead vocals) Earl Falconer (bass, vocal), Brian Travers (sax and keyboards), Jimmy Brown (drums) and Norman Hassan (percussion, vocals).

The band also feature, Martin Meredith (sax) and Lawrence Parry (trumpet), who have both been in UB40’s touring line-up for more than 20 years, and Tony Mullins (keyboards).

Naming themselves after the unemployment benefit form, UB40 formed in 1978, before releasing their debut album Signing Off in August 1980 – considered by many to be one of the greatest reggae albums ever released by a British band. It was the start of a career that has since seen the band exceed 40 UK Top 40 hit singles and achieve sales of more than 100 million records, making UB40 one of the most successful British groups of all time. The band’s latest Top 30 album Getting Over The Storm was awarded BBC Radio 2’s Album Of The Week accolade and received five-star reviews from the UK’s music press on its release in September 2013.

* ub40.co.uk http://facebook.com/ub40official @UB40official and instagram.com/ub40official

* Tickets available in person at the Box Office from £31, or from £33.90 by ringing the theatre box office on 0844-871-3022 or ATGtickets.com/Sunderland