Grace Jones’ Meltdown is to move to 2022, with the iconic artist remaining in place to curate and headline the much-anticipated Southbank Centre festival from Friday 10 June – Sunday 19 June 2022.
The move follows government advice that social distancing will continue until at least 21 June 2021, with venues expected to continue operating at reduced capacity. Grace Jones’ Meltdown was due to be taking place this summer from Friday 11 June – Sunday 20 June 2021.
The Southbank Centre can confirm that previously announced acts remain in the 2022 Meltdown line-up, while Ladysmith Black Mambazo will appear at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 15 October 2022 and Jimmy Cliff’s Meltdown gig will be cancelled pending the further release of names for the line-up later in the Autumn.
The Southbank Centre will be in touch with all ticket holders with information on how tickets will be transferred to the new dates. All ticket holders for other planned events this Spring will receive information of rescheduled dates, credit vouchers, donations and refunds.
Bengi Ünsal, Head of Contemporary Music, the Southbank Centre, said:
“While it’s disappointing to be announcing that Grace Jones’ Meltdown will be postponed until June 2022, we are so grateful to everyone involved in helping us reschedule the hugely anticipated festival. Meltdown is the cornerstone of the Southbank Centre’s Contemporary Music programme and we know how much our audiences were looking forward to seeing the icon that is Grace Jones take to the Royal Festival Hall stage this summer, alongside an incredible array of artists. The regulations around social distancing make postponement the best course of action for a festival of this scale, to ensure we can retain the roster of global artists we’ve got lined-up and welcome all those who already hold tickets. We know it’s shaping up to be one of the most unforgettable Meltdown festivals ever and we can’t wait to share more names with you this Autumn.”
Meltdown has an unparalleled reputation among artists and is famed for providing a stage for exclusive collaborations and intimate, once-in-a-lifetime musical experiences. It is the crown in the Southbank Centre’s year-round programme of gigs and contemporary music which encompasses world-class venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, and opportunities to showcase boundary-pushing, underground artists through its celebrated monthly club night Concrete Lates and rising talent through its futuretense series.
Grace Jones joins a roll-call of world-changing artists to head up the festival, including David Bowie, Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Lee Scratch Perry, M.I.A., and Robert Smith, and takes the baton from her former collaborator Nile Rodgers, who delivered the most critically acclaimed Meltdown to date in 2019.
The Southbank Centre has also announced its reopening dates as the venue prepares for a four-month summer of artistic activity. The iconic Royal Festival Hall will reopen on 28 May for socially-distanced concerts and outdoor stages will bring music back to the South Bank of the Thames. The first wave of programming will be announced in the coming weeks.
FESTIVAL LISTINGS
SOLANGE
Friday 10 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, Tickets available from £60
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and visual artist Solange Knowles performs as part of Grace Jones’ Meltdown.
LEE SCRATCH PERRY
Friday 10 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall
Regarded with awe throughout the music world, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry holds status as one of the most enduring and original reggae producers and artists of all time whose immeasurable influence lives on in the enduring sounds of Bob Marley & the Wailers who Perry produced, his own solo albums of the 1970s and 1980s and in today’s evolution of dub and dubstep. The octogenarian returns to the Southbank Centre after curating Meltdown in 2003.
PEACHES
Saturday 11 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, For Ages 16+
The legendary feminist pop icon Peaches makes a return to the Royal Festival Hall with an explosive show specially crafted for Grace Jones' Meltdown. An iconic feminist musician, producer, director, and performance artist, Peaches has spent more than two decades pushing boundaries and breaking barriers, dramatically altering the landscape of popular culture as she forged a bold, sexually progressive path that’s opened the doors for countless others to follow. Through music, art, film, theatre, television, and books, she has upended stereotypes and embraced taboos, challenging social norms and patriarchal power structures while championing LGBTQ rights and issues of gender and sexual identity with biting wit and fearless originality.
PARAORCHESTRA PRESENTS: THE LOVE UNLIMITED SYNTH ORCHESTRA
Wednesday 15 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, BSL interpreted
Fresh from their bring-the-house-down premiere at Glastonbury Festival 2019, The Love Unlimited Synth Orchestra comes to Grace Jones’ Meltdown, joined by a stellar line-up of special guests, presenting their own take on Barry White’s iconic bass and reinstating his overlooked genius as a composer. Conducted by Charles Hazlewood, performed by Paraorchestra – the world’s first integrated ensemble of professional disabled and non-disabled musicians – and with arrangements by award-winning composer, Charlotte Harding.
OUMOU SANGARÉ
Wednesday 15 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall
Oumou Sangaré’s sound draws upon Malian tradition and her rich musical heritage while simultaneously looking to the future. Sangaré has become an emblem for African womanhood and a striking role model, campaigning fearlessly to improve the position of women in Mali. The power of her voice and the potency of her message will no doubt be heard as she brings her music to Meltdown.
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
Thursday 16 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall
Encompassing soul, spoken word, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, rock, all bound by a lyrical, spiritual search for love, justice, respect, resolution, and happiness, Meshell Ndegeocello defies the expectations imposed upon her. A bass player above all else, Ndegeocello brings her warm, fat, melodic groove to everything she does. Grace Jones’ Meltdown will be no exception.
SKUNK ANANSIE
Friday 17 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Skunk Anansie’s cultural impact, politicism and musical and aesthetic radicalism propelled them from the backrooms of 1990s London, to huge success on the global scene, and a long-lived importance within contemporary culture. Their performance at Meltdown crowns an incredible 25th anniversary, marked with their most recent release: 25LIVE@25 - a staggering back catalogue of the 25 greatest songs from the six studio albums they’ve made - which will be performed in the sumptuous acoustics of the Royal Festival Hall.
BAABA MAAL
Saturday 18 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Since Sengalese superstar Baaba Maal found mainstream fame in the 1980s with his unique blend of traditional African rhythms and modern Western musical styles, he has released a series of acclaimed solo albums, toured the world numerous times, performed for President Obama, co-founded Africa Utopia festival at the Southbank Centre and his own annual Blues du Fleuve festival in northern Senegal, and most recently collaborated and performed on the multi award-winning soundtrack of the global hit movie Black Panther. He returns to the Royal Festival Hall for Grace Jones.
LEE FIELDS AND THE EXPRESSIONS
Saturday 18 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall
Living legend Lee Fields has worked with everyone from B.B.King to Bobby Womack. Now in his early seventies he stands at the forefront of the soul revival, ushering in the most fruitful period of his career with his latest album It Rains Love receiving widespread acclaim. He joins Grace Jones’ line-up in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with his band The Expressions.
GRACE JONES
Sunday 19 June 2022, 7.30pm, Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall
Famed for captivating audiences across the globe with her musicianship, extravagant outfits and wild performances, Miss Grace Jones is never one to disappoint a crowd. Closing her Meltdown in the stunning setting and world-class acoustics of the Royal Festival Hall, she promises a very special live show unlike any other. More to be revealed.
