A new list of artists joining Little Simz’s edition of Meltdown 2025 has been shared, including James Blake, Mahalia, and BADBADNOTGOOD. Find details below.
It comes as a British artist is set to curate a boundary-breaking line-up for this year’s edition of the 11-day festival, which will be held between June 12 and 22.
Simz herself is set to play a one-off show at the event alongside the Chineke! Orchestra, and the first wave of artists lined-up for this year’s event included Ghetts, Jon Batiste, Lola Young, Sasha Keable, The Streets and Yukimi & BINA.
Now, even more artists have been added to the bill, including Grammy-nominated R&B singer-songwriter Mahalia. She will be taking to the stage at the Royal Festival Hall on the first Friday night of the event (June 13) and is expected to break out hits including ‘Simmer’, ‘What You Did’ and ‘Pressure Points’. Tiwa Savage is also scheduled for the following day, and set to break out a set that will prove why she has become one of Africa’s most influential artists in recent years.
Two-time Grammy winners BADBADNOTGOOD have joined the line-up too – extending their number of live performances planned for this summer and following up from their collaborative EP with Turnstile.
Ivor Novello and Mercury Prize Award-winning James Blake is among the new announcements too, following on from his 2024 EP ‘CMYK 002 – Let Her Know’ – as are London-born saxophonist Nubya Garcia, MEGA, Rising star Jon Poppii and Illinois singer-songwriter Kara Jackson.
Tickets for the new shows will be available to the general public from Friday April 11, and to Southbank Centre members from Wednesday (April 9). Visit here for tickets and find the schedule below.
Little Simz’s Meltdown 2025 line-up is:
JUNE
12 – The Streets (Royal Festival Hall)
13 – Mahalia (Royal Festival Hall)
14 – Tiwa Savage (Royal Festival Hall)
14 – Sasha Keable (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
16 – BADBADNOTGOOD (Royal Festival Hall)
17 – Lola Young (Royal Festival Hall)
17 – Kara Jackson (Purcell Room)
18 – Ghetts (Royal Festival Hall)
18 – Yukimi & BINA (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
19 – Nubya Garcia (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
20 – MEGA & Jon Poppii (Queen Elizabeth Hall)
20 – James Blake (Royal Festival Hall)
21 – Jon Batiste (Royal Festival Hall)
22 – Little Simz & Chineke! Orchestra (Royal Festival Hall)
“My team and I have prepared 11 days of art, music, workshops and more. So many incredible artists have curated this festival so it’s a true honour to be a part of it,” said Simz in a new statement. “Thank you to the Southbank Centre for having me. Meltdown 2025 the Simz way is going to be epic. I’ll see you there.”
Jane Beese, Head of Contemporary Music at Southbank Centre added: “Little Simz’s first taste of what’s to come from her Meltdown hugely embodies the wealth of influences and inspirations across her work. Ranging from jazz, hip hop, R&B, electronic and soul with a line up of both renowned legends alongside the creators of the future, this is going to be London’s go-to festival this summer.”
With the announcement, the rapper joins the huge list of legendary names that have curated Meltdown at Southbank Centre in the past, including David Bowie, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Grace Jones, Christine and the Queens, Nile Rodgers, Robert Smith, David Byrne, Yoko Ono, Anohni, Massive Attack and Jarvis Cocker.
It also comes as the artist is gearing up to share a new album called ‘Lotus’ later this year. The record will mark the highly anticipated follow-up to 2022’s ‘NO THANK YOU’, and was originally due to be released on May 9 via AWAL – although this has now been pushed back to June 6.
Last week Little Simz also shared details of two new shows, which will mark her biggest headline UK dates yet. Find tickets to those gigs here.