The Specials - Reunion

Reunion

On 30 March 2008, Hall stated that The Specials would be reforming for tour dates in Autumn 2008, and possibly for some recording. This was officially confirmed on 7 April 2008. On 6 September 2008, six members of the band performed on the Main Stage at the Bestival billed as the 'Surprise Act'. By December 2008, the band had announced 2009 tour dates to celebrate their 30th anniversary. It was announced that founder member Jerry Dammers is not set to join the band on the tour. Hall was quoted as saying "The door remains open to him". However Dammers described the new reunion as a "takeover" and claimed he has been forced out of the band.

On 10 April 2009, the reactivated band guested on the BBC Two's Later... with Jools Holland. The following month, Golding and Bradbury expressed their intentions to release further original Specials material at a later date. On 8 June 2009, it was announced that The Specials would embark on a 'second leg' of their 30th Anniversary Tour - taking in the locations and venues that they missed earlier in the year. In July and August 2009, The Specials toured Australia and Japan. In October the band picked up the Inspiration Award at the Q Awards. In 2010, they performed at the Dutch festival Lowlands.

In an interview at the Green Room in Manchester in November 2010, Terry Hall confirmed that there would be further Specials dates in the Autumn of 2011, and confessed to having enjoyed playing live again; "It's a celebration of something that happened in your life that was important, and we're going to do that again next year, but then maybe that'll be it."

The Specials performed at Hyde Park with Blur and New Order to celebrate the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

In August 2012, The Specials release their brand new live album called More ... Or Less The Specials Live on CD and vinyl, featuring "the best of the best" performances from their 2011 European tour - selected by the band themselves.