RAYE opens 60th Montreux Jazz Festival with surprise guests Alicia Keys and Mark Ronson
British singer RAYE launched the 60th Montreux Jazz Festival with a meticulously crafted show featuring surprise appearances by Alicia Keys and Mark Ronson, paying homage to the festival's storied history.
A meticulously crafted opening
RAYE, 28, was given artistic freedom for the opening concert of the 60th Montreux Jazz Festival. She presented "Moments in Time", a show designed with Audemars Piguet and the festival, alternating her own songs with covers of legends who shaped Montreux's history. The performance lasted over two hours and featured a 23-piece orchestra and a rotating circular stage in the newly renovated Auditorium Stravinski.
It was impossible to just go on stage and do my songs. Everything had to have meaning, be intentional. I wanted to tell the story of the moments that marked this stage, but also those yet to be written. It required a lot of research and deep work on Montreux's history.
Tributes to Montreux legends
The evening opened with "Who Knows Where the Time Goes", a direct nod to Nina Simone, who performed the same song at Montreux exactly 50 years earlier, on 3 July 1976. RAYE then moved through a James Brown medley, "Summertime" (associated with Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald), and mashups that wove her own "Nightingale Lane" into Prince's "Purple Rain" and "Skin and Bones" with Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady". She also performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine".
- RAYE opens with "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" in tribute to Nina Simone's 1976 performance.
- Producer Mark Ronson appears for "Uptown Funk" and the duet "Suzanne".
- Alicia Keys sits at the piano for "If I Ain't Got You" and "Oscar Winning Tears".
- RAYE dedicates "Free" to her late Swiss grandfather.
- Show closes after over two hours of tributes and original songs.
Surprise appearances
The audience erupted when Mark Ronson walked on stage with his guitar. He and RAYE delivered a snippet of "Uptown Funk" before their duet "Suzanne". Later, Alicia Keys sat at the piano for her hit "If I Ain't Got You", then joined RAYE for "Oscar Winning Tears", the first time the two had sung together live. RAYE's sisters Amma and Absolutely also performed.
A personal milestone
RAYE has now played Montreux three years in a row. Her debut in 2024 allowed her Swiss grandfather to see her perform live for the first time. This year, she dedicated the song "Free" to him; he has since passed away. Festival director Mathieu Jaton called her "our muse".
Let me tell you, my first ever Montreux Jazz Festival was a moment in time no money can buy. My Swiss Grandad got to watch me perform live for the first time, at one of the greatest - if not the greatest - festival in the world.
A slightly delayed start
The concert began 30 minutes late due to entry problems and a lack of running water in the toilets. The rotating stage, while spectacular, meant some audience members lost sight of RAYE for minutes at a time. The 60th edition continues over the next two weeks with more legendary acts.
