Grace Jones and Janelle Monáe

Grace Jones–the trailblazing icon of music, fashion, and film–takes the Ravinia stage for the first time this summer, delivering a mesmerizing performance that defies genre and expectation. Throughout her career, the multi-talented artist has woven music across styles, bringing together disco, new wave post-punk, art pop, industrial, reggae and gospel, creating “a tight sound that is distinctly hers” (Vice). Rolling Stone celebrates her remarkable influence, writing "So many performers are said to be larger than life, but the show biz cliché has never been truer than it is for Grace Jones."

Jones is joined by Janelle Monae–a trailblazer in her own right, making her own Ravinia debut–whose innovative spark has led to success in music and film, with ten Grammy nominations and performances in Glass Onion, Harriet, and Hidden Figures. NPR described her 2015 protest song "Hell You Talmbout" as "visceral" and "blistering," highlighting its powerful message against racial violence, and Rolling Stone praised her 2013 album The Electric Lady, highlighting Monae’s "sheer force of freakadelic will and a radical feminist's sense of self-exploration." 

Before the concert, join smartbar sweethearts and musical contortionists Derrick Carter, Michael Serafini, and Garrett David for an evening of only the rawest Chicago house music served up by the pros. The Queen! hosts are as stellar and stunning as ever: the renowned but never-replicated Lucy Stoole and Nico are poised to take center stage, stealing the show, per usual. Bask in the atmospheric vibrations, dance into twilight, and celebrate one of the best parties to come out of Chicago with plenty of over-the-top kings and queens and everything in between.