Music legend, gay icon, art-rock symbol and Bond villain Grace Jones has been announced as the Saturday night headliner for next year's WOMADelaide festival.
The superstar addition completes the extraordinary lineup for the celebration of music, arts and dance held over the March long weekend (6–9 March) in Botanic Park/Tainmuntilla.
Jamaican Jones came out of New York's famous Studio 54 nightclub scene and went on to forge a career that merged art and music and spawned hit songs like Pull Up to the Bumper and Slave to the Rhythm.
At age 77, her distinctive husky voice is still as commanding as ever, and her powerful, theatrical stage presence is unrivalled.
Jones joins a swag of recently announced acts including Arrested Development (pictured), who were the first hip-hop artists to win Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, one of Africa’s greatest female voices and activists Oumou Sangaré, beloved Italian pop icon Jovanotti, Canadian jazz-fusion group BADBADNOTGOOD, American gospel family band Annie & The Caldwells, and psychedelic Amsterdam-based six-piece Nusantara Beat.
The festival will also feature a celebration of one of the most important albums in Australian recording history when First Nations 
band Yothu Yindi mark the 35th anniversary of Tribal Voice.
Tribal Voice, which spawned the hits Treaty, Djapana (Sunset Dreaming) and Tribal Voice, thrust the Northern Territory-based band into the world spotlight when it was released in 1991, showcasing both Indigenous music and political concerns for a global audience.
Other highlights include Nigerian-born London-based artist Obongjayar, Kiwi singer-songwriter Marlon Williams (pictured), complete with Kapa Haka group Ngā Mātai Pūrua, and the South Asian classical music of Indian-American Ganavya.
The 82-year-old First Nations gospel singer Kankawa Nagarra, Cuban Grammy-nominee and former Buena Vista Social Club member Roberto Fonseca and Scandinavian female folk group Åkervinda also add to the lineup.
These artists join Yolngu rapper and dancer Baker Boy, American singer-songwriter I
ron & Wine, Irish folk band Beoga – touring Australia with longtime collaborator Ed Sheeran – and the ABC’s Pacific Break winner Mantis from Vanuatu.
The Around the Park program will include trampoline and tightrope works by French dance-circus Cie Hors Surface as well as artistic Spanish hairdressers Osadía, who turn unsuspecting audience members into walking works of art through colourful makeup and hair.
The Taste the World program, where artists are invited to cook dishes from home, the WoMarkets retail hub, KidZone, the Planet Talks sessions and The Sanctuary Restaurant at Adelaide Zoo will also return in 2026.
WOMADelaide Director Ian Scobie AM said Jones would bring a "thrilling and memorable energy" to next year's festival.
"Few festivals in the world are able to showcase the breadth and diversity of music, arts and dance from across the globe, especially on such a large scale, while appealing to audiences of all ages and tastes," he said.
"WOMADelaide is a glorious opportunity to discover new sounds soon to be favourites and embrace artists you love."
For more information and tickets visit the Womadelaide website (external site) (external site) (external site).
