It’s official, Grace Jones is finally curating Meltdown Festival. The longest-running artist-curated festival in the UK, being selected is a recognition of cultural significance and longevity; with previous curators including Nick Cave, David Bowie, M.I.A. and Yoko Ono.
In a statement accompanying the announcement, Jones said: “I am honoured to be curating next year’s Meltdown festival. Year after year, the festival continues to spread its colourful wings, allowing its curators to bring together an array of diverse talent not seen anywhere else. It’s about time I was asked to curate Meltdown darling, don’t you think?!”
Jones rose to fame in the 1970s as a supermodel before releasing a stream of hits including “Warm Leatherette”, “Nightclubbing” and “Slave to the Rhythm”. Due to her androgynous style and unique image, she served as muse to creatives like Issey Miyake, Thierry Mugler and Andy Warhol.
Directly preceding Jones as Meltdown curator was Nile Rodgers, the co-founder of disco band Chic and one of the most influential producers of all time. Amongst his selected acts were Thundercat, Nakhane, KOKOROKO and, of course, Chic.
