Program
Saturday
31 August
These acts have been confirmed. The timetable will be published soon.
Mariah Carey
If there’s anyone not needing any introduction, it’s Mariah Carey. The singer rose to fame in 1990 with her smash hit single Vision Of Love and her eponymous debut album. Right away the world paid attention, not in the least because of Carey’s five-octave vocal range and signature use of the whistle register. She became the first artist to have their first five singles reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Breaking records left and right, Carey saw her single One Sweet Day become the longest-running U.S. number-one single in history and her Christmas song All I Want For Christmas Is You turn into a true classic. Carey has won five Grammy Awards, nineteen World Music Awards, ten American Music Awards, and fourteen Billboard Music Awards. She has sold over 200 million albums worldwide. In addition to all that she has acted in many succesful movies and has been involved with several charitable organizations. Her latest album is 2018’s Caution.
Maroon 5
American band Maroon 5 was founded as Kara’s Flowers when four members were still in highschool together. When they began as Maroon 5 in 2001, success arrived fairly quickly. From that four-member teenage band Maroon 5 have grown into a seven-piece hit machine, having sold over 20 million albums and received three Grammy Awards. Their debut album, Songs About Jane, became their big breakthrough and its successor, It Won't Be Soon Before Long, did even better. Hits were aplenty: Harder To Breathe, This Love, She Will Be Loved, Makes Me Wonder, Moves Like Jagger featuring Christina Aguilera… the list goes on. Their latest album, Red Pill Blues, was released at the end of 2017 and contained the number 1 hit single Girls Like You, featuring Cardi B. This past January, Maroon 5 had the honor of performing during the Superbowl Half-Time Show.
Aloe Blacc
Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III is known better as Aloe Blacc, an American singer-songwriter, although he started out playing a broken trumpet as a child. Later he discovered music and hip hop by listening to LL Cool J. After forming musical duo Emanon with hip hop producer Exile, Blacc launched his solo career in 2003, eventually finding a large audience with 2010’s hit single I Need A Dollar. In terms of both musicality and social relevance, he is the heir apparent to soul greats like Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. In 2013, the single Wake Me Up, which Blacc co-wrote and sang with Swedish DJ Avicii, was a number one hit in many countries. His third album, Lift Your Spirit, also dates from the same year, as well as the EP Wake Me Up. Although the wait is still on for a new album, Blacc hasn’t rested on his laurels: there were recent singles such as 2018’s Brooklyn In The Summer, as well as collaborations with Tiësto, among others. Earlier this year he released his latest single I’m Gonna Sing; he is also featured on SOS, the new single of the late Avicii.
David Sanborn
David Sanborn has been blurring the boundaries between genres since the eighties and is seen as one of the most influential saxophonists globally. He has worked as a much sought-after session musician for pop and rock stars, including the Rolling Stones, James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie; composed soundtracks like Lethal Weapon and he equally enjoys jamming at jazz clubs with artists like Jack DeJohnette and Bill Frisell. His never-ceasing energy has paid dividends: Sanborn has scored eight golden records, one platinum record and six Grammys. Playing the sax since childhood, Sanborn released his first solo album in 1975; Taking Off is nowadays regarded as something of a jazz/funk classic. After that, Sanborn went on to release an enormous amount of records, both as a leader and in collaboration with others.
Gladys Knight
Six years after making her debut in Curaçao the ‘Enpress of Soul’ is returning to the island. Gladys Knight began her career at a very young age: she won a TV talent show at age 7 and formed The Pips a year later. As Gladys Knight & The Pips the band was signed to the renowned Motown label and had most of their hits, such as I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Midnight Train To Georgia, and Baby Don’t Change Your Mind, in the 1960s and 1970s. At the end of the 1980s Knight started her solo career and found instant success with the James Bond title track License To Kill. She didn’t stick to just singing, but also made a name as an actress and entrepeneur, and did a lot of charity work. Her latest album, Where My Heart Belongs, was released in 2014 and is a bona fide gospel album, on which The Pips also performed. Knight now has seven Grammy’s and numerous other awards to her name.
Nicky Jam
Nick Rivera Caminero is a reggaeton artist better known under his stage name Nicky Jam, which was jokingly given to him by a homeless person when he was young. Born in Boston to a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, he moved to Puerto Rico at age ten. After a music executive noticed his talent he was given a recording contract and released his first album, ...Distinto A Los Demás, at age 14. Having released five studio albums between then and 2007, his sixth, 2017’s Fénix, brought him more chart success than ever before. The album contains hit singles such as El Perdón (with Enrique Iglesias), Hasta El Amanecer, and El Amante. Rivera performed the song Live It Up alongside Will Smith and Era Istrefi at the World Cup in Moscow in 2017 and released Date La Vueltra, with Luis Fonsi and Sebastián Yatra, earlier this year. He has several Billboard Latin Music Awards, Latin American Music Awards, and Latin Grammy Awards to his name and also holds the record for most appearances on various artist albums.
Third World
Jamaican band Third World celebrated its 45th anniversary last year. Founded in 1973 by former members of Inner Circle, the band quickly made a name for itself. Calling themselves ‘Reggae Ambassadors’ and describing their sound as reggae fusion, Third World mix reggae with many other genres such as soul, funk, and disco. Their biggest hit to date was 1978’s Now That We Found Love. Their success has brought them all over the world and put ten Grammy nominations to their name. And speaking of names: most bandmembers are known for their nicknames, such as Stephen "Cat" Coore, Richard "Bassie" Daley, Tony "Ruption" Williams, and Maurice "Smooth Lion" Gregory. The band is rounded out by AJ Brown and Norris Webb. Their latest single, Loving You Is Easy, was produced by Damian Marley and released earlier this year.
