Chaka Khan has been named as the latest music star to curate the Meltdown festival at London’s Southbank Centre, following in the footsteps of David Bowie, Grace Jones, Yoko Ono and more.
The festival will take place from 14 to 23 June, with the artist programme still to be announced. Khan said the festival would be “where magic of music meets the warmth of community … We’re going to funk it up, rock every crowd, and touch every soul.”
The Southbank Centre’s head of contemporary music, Adem Holness, said: “I’ve learned how important community, activism, love and care are to her so these ideas, along with brilliant music, will be the foundation of Meltdown.”
Khan is using the festival to mark 50 years in music, a landmark she reached last year after the 1973 release of her debut album with the R&B band Rufus. The group broke through in 1974 with the Stevie Wonder-penned Tell Me Something Good, and scored a series of platinum-selling albums before Khan went solo.
Her 1978 debut single I’m Every Woman endures as a classic of the disco era, while 1984’s I Feel for You was a global hit reaching No 1 in the UK. With 12 solo albums under her belt, she continues to release new music, and last year guested with British indie band Bombay Bicycle Club on their song Tekken 2.
Last year’s Meltdown curator was Christine and the Queens, who booked artists including symphonic post-rockers Sigur Rós, art-poppers Django Django, and African pop stars Oxlade and Yemi Alade.
