Line-up for the Montreux Jazz Festival released

The festival’s 59th edition will run from July the 4th to 19th at Lake Geneva in Switzerland

Montreux Jazz Festival has revealed its line-up for 2025, including a one-off Chaka Khan tribute to her collaborator Quincy Jones, who was the festival’s co-producer in the 1990s and remained an ambassador for the event until he died.

Khan will be joined on the bill by artists from a range of genres including Neil Young And The Chrome Hearts, Pulp, Sam Fender, Raye, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, FKA Twigs, Alanis Morissette, Santana, and Benson Boone.

The 72-year-old’s tribute, named Chaka Khan And Friends: To Quincy With Love, will see her joined by Grammy-winning singer Siedah Garrett, co-writer of Michael Jackson’s Man In The Mirror, which Jones produced, and a frequent collaborator on the late producer’s albums in the 1980s and 1990s.

Khan said of her upcoming performance: “I feel honoured to be returning to open the Montreux Jazz Festival this year, joining so many world class artists.

“I’m equally proud to be bringing some special guests with me, to pay musical tribute to my friend Quincy Jones, one of the best friends that music and Montreux ever had.”

The singer, who is best known for songs such as I Feel For You, Ain’t Nobody and I’m Every Woman, previously appeared on the Montreux stage as part of a 2008 tribute to Jones for his 75th birthday.

Jones, who was a 28-time Grammy winner, died last year aged 91, and was best known for his work with Jackson on his albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad, as well as Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, and Tony Bennett.

The festival’s 59th edition will run from July 4 to July 19 at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, and will also include performances from Shaboozey, Jorja Smith, Leon Bridges, James Blake, Noah Kahan, Jade, Jamie XX, The Black Keys, Bloc Party, Brandi Carlile, Ezra Collective, and Joe Bonamassa.

Montreux’s 2025 edition will also feature 11 free stages offering a range of musical experiences, yoga classes and live cooking sessions, while the Lake House will feature spontaneous intimate performances from the festival’s headline artists.

Also in the Lake House will be a cinema screening room, and the Bibliotheque, a curated collection of vinyl and books, with daily talks from special guests.

The event has been running since 1967, when it was set up by Claude Nobs, Geo Voumard and Rene Langel, with help from Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic Records.

Beginning as a solely jazz festival and seeing performances from the likes of Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, the event broadened out to other genres during the 1970s, which led to appearances from artists including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Bo Diddley.

Tickets will go on sale on Friday, April 11 at 11am from the Montreux Jazz Festival website, where the festival’s full line-up and programme can be viewed.

Published: 10/04/2025 by Radio NewsHub