Reggae star Maxi Priest signs global management deal with Birmingham's EVO, the team behind UB40

One of the biggest voices in British reggae is now being managed from Birmingham. Maxi Priest, the Grammy-nominated singer behind "Close to You" and "Wild World", has signed a global management agreement with Birmingham-based EVO Music Management, the company that looks after the city's own reggae giants, UB40, What's On Birmingham reports.

The deal brings together two of the most influential names in the genre, with support from the live specialists CAA and Big Wave.

A new chapter after four decades

Under the agreement, EVO will work with Maxi Priest to develop and oversee his international career, covering recorded music, live touring, brand partnerships, commercial opportunities and long-term artistic development.

The singer has spent more than 40 years at the forefront of popular music, blending reggae, lovers rock, R&B and pop, and building a following across the UK, the United States, Jamaica, the Caribbean and beyond. He is regarded as one of the most successful British-Jamaican recording artists of all time.

His best-known hits include "Close to You", "Wild World", "That Girl" with Shaggy and "Housecall" with Shabba Ranks. "Close to You" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1990, making him one of very few reggae artists ever to top that chart.

He has received three Grammy nominations for Best Reggae Album, the most recent for "It All Comes Back to Love" in 2019, which he made with his fellow reggae star Shaggy.

A long friendship with UB40

The signing is the latest step in a long musical relationship between Maxi Priest and UB40. This year he joined the band and Aswad on UB40's Unstoppable UK arena tour, bringing three of the most celebrated names in British reggae to audiences around the country.

UB40 formed in Birmingham in 1978, taking their name from the form used to claim unemployment benefit at the time. Their songs, from "Red Red Wine" to "Kingston Town", carried the sound of the city's reggae scene around the world, and the band have sold more than 100 million records.

Why it matters for Birmingham music

Birmingham has a deep reggae heritage, shaped by the Caribbean communities of Handsworth, Balsall Heath and beyond. It gave the world not only UB40 but Steel Pulse, whose "Handsworth Revolution" put the area on the musical map, and generations of sound systems and studios that followed.

Having a Birmingham company steer the international career of a star of Maxi Priest's stature is a reminder that the city's music industry is not just about its history. Management, promotion and touring all bring work, skills and investment into the city, and a high-profile signing like this raises the profile of the people doing that work here.

For fans, the partnership is likely to mean more opportunities to see Maxi Priest live. With CAA and Big Wave supporting the live side, and a management team that knows the arena circuit well from years of UB40 tours, there is every reason to expect him back on Birmingham stages before long.

For now, the message from both sides is that this is the start of something new for a singer whose voice has been part of the soundtrack of British life for four decades.