Mayor Brandon Scott announced Monday night that “Queen of Funk” Chaka Khan will headline the opening night of Artscape.
“y’all thought we were done with the Artscape lineup?” Scott posted on the social media platform X.
“Nope! The incomparable, legendary @chakakhan will hit the stage on Friday, August 2nd, as she continues to celebrate 50 incredible years of her music!” he continued.
Scott added that the 71-year-old singer, who has won 10 Grammy Awards in her career, will be joined by R&B songstress Maeta.
When the mayor announced at a news conference last month that Artscape’s headliners would include the “Queen of Percussion” Sheila E. and reggae group The Original Wailers, he hinted that he might make further announcements about Artscape’s musical lineup by “dropping a post in the middle of the night” on his Instagram account.
The 40th anniversary Artscape will be held Aug. 2 to 4 in the Bolton Hill, Station North and Mount Royal neighborhoods. Often described as the nation’s largest free outdoor public art festival, Artscape drew an audience of 350,000 in its heyday and generated an estimated economic impact of $28.5 million.