Four members of Birmingham reggae band UB40 are now officially penniless.
A judge at Birmingham County Court has declared Brian Travers, Jimmy Brown, Terence Oswald (known as Astro) and Norman Hassan bankrupt.
Their details have been listed by the Insolvency Service.
The court order lasts for a year and means tax officers could seize property to pay off any outstanding debts.
The case revolves around the failure of the band’s record firm and management company DEP International.
It follows a bitter bust-up over band finances which split the group, prompting original singer Ali Campbell to leave in 2008.
The band has sold more than 70 million records worldwide and notched up 50 hits in 33-year career.
The band members’ battle against bankruptcy was lost shortly after UB40 were honoured with a Performing Rights Society plaque at the Hare & Hounds pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham, where they played their first gig in 1978.
Ali Campbell was not invited. His spokeswoman said the bankruptcy court case showed he was right to quit.
“It is ironic that the very week they celebrate their first gig they have been declared bankrupt, after administration began in 2006, vindicating both Ali and Mickey Virtue’s decision to leave UB40,” she said.
The rest of UB40 remained tight-lipped about the costly legal defeat. They were understood to be recording a new album at a studio in Redditch.
A fifth original member of the group – Robin Campbell, the brother of Ali – was also involved in the Birmingham County Court case although is not listed as bankrupt.
