Benji Webbe

Benji Webbe was born Clive John Webbe on 11 March, 1967 in Newport, Wales to Jamaican immigrant parents. Webbe's father was brought to the UK on the Windrush ship which brought one of the first groups of West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom. Webbe's father arrived in Manchester where he struggled to find a job and moved to Wales instead.

He became an orphan at the age of 8 and was raised by his older brother in Powys.[2]

Webbe first came to prominence with Dub War, releasing two studio albums, Pain and Wrongside of Beautiful. A third album was in the works before the band split in 1999. Benji left Earache after they refused to let him record a solo album, which was intended to move to a more hip-hop sound.[3] After a short lived project with Robert Trujillo, Mass Mental, which released one studio and one live album, Webbe formed Skindred with former members of Dub War. Due to a dispute with the record label, a new lineup moved to Bieler Bros. and has released six studio albums.

In 2006, Webbe performed with Korn at the 2006 Download Festival, while Korn's lead singer Jonathan Davis was seriously ill, he sang A.D.I.D.A.S. He has also appeared on Bullet For My Valentine's 2008 album Scream Aim Fire (on "Take It Out On Me"), as well as Soulfly's debut album (on "Quilombo" and "Prejudice").[4]

In 2015 Benji released his debut solo album, a purely reggae album entitled I Haven't Been Nicking In Ages, produced by Monsta Boy. He has also been performing intermittently with the reformed Mass Mental and in 2015, Dub War.[5]

In 2020 Benji unveiled a new studio project with Dub War bassist Richie Glover, entitled Diamond Spider. The "voodoo blues" project released its debut single in October that year, with a self-titled album due in 2021 along with Dub War's 4th studio album.

Webbe has a wife, four children and 12 grandchildren.[2]