Ali Campbell may have made a name for himself as a successful music artist still selling out venues around the world after four decades, but found this carried no weight at a hotel in the Scottish Highlands.
The Red Red Wine hit-maker, 65, found himself unceremoniously turned away and discriminated against when attempting to check in to a hotel because not everyone in Scotland likes the name Campbell due to an infamous clan dispute that took place centuries before he was even born.
Recalling the mind-boggling exchange, he told The Standard: “I walked from Land’s End to John O’Groats and when I got to the Highlands, I think it was Inverness, I tried to book into a hotel, I signed the book and the lady said ‘excuse me, who is this?’ I said ‘That’s me’. She said ‘I’m afraid you can’t stay here, sir.’ I went ‘you’re kidding?’ She said ‘No, Campbells are not allowed here!’”
Finding himself without a leg to stand on, he said: “I had to go somewhere else as they wouldn’t have me.”
He added: “It’s still very much alive the old [clan] hatred.”
He was referring to what some people have claimed to be lingering animosity directed towards people called Campbell following the infamous massacre of Glencoe more than 300 years ago. One of the darkest chapters in Scottish history saw Clan Campbell-led government forces killed men, women and children from the rival MacDonald Clan who had hosted them in the Highlands.
The singer is hoping for a more welcoming reception when he and his band UB40 featuring Ali Campbell come to the capital for an intimate gig at Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo on December 3.
Described as “up close and personal”, the theatre venue marks a change to the usual arenas they play, including the London O2 Arena which they sold out earlier this year.
“They are nice little venues,” Campbell enthused. “I prefer doing theatres because of the sound. The O2 is a sort of prestige thing and to sell it out is great, but you can never get the sound that you get in a theatre because they weren’t really built for that. I remember seeing Stevie Wonder at the NEC in Birmingham. He’s one of my heroes and I was so disappointed with the sound that it made me think do I really want to be playing arenas?”
Teasing a night of “all winners, no fillers” he says he’s under no disillusion about what it is that people are coming to hear.
“I’m not self-indulgent, I don’t like going out there and doing new stuff or pure dub and everything. I know what people want after 40-odd years of doing it, they want to hear the hits,” he laughs.
The British Reggae band are also set to play Kew The Music in Kew Gardens next year on July 10.
UB40 featuring Ali Campbell perform at the Eventim Apollo on 3 December, and Kew The Music 10th July 2025. Tickets from MyTicket.co.uk
