Mutiny Festival 2018: Craig David announced as first headline act

The R&B superstar will perform on the main stage on Sunday night, The News can exclusively reveal.

The singer-songwriter has come back into the musical spotlight in the past two years after rising to fame in 2000 with songs like Seven Days, Walking Away and Fill Me In.

Last year his album Following My Intuition topped the album charts featuring hits like When the Baseline Drops.

And next May Bank Holiday weekend, Craig will be performing on King George V playing fields, in Cosham, as part of Mutiny Festival’s fifth year.

Luke Betts, co-organiser, said: ‘We are excited to be announcing this household name for next year’s festival.

‘He is someone we have had on our radar for a while now. He is super talented, he sings and raps and he has come back with some great songs.

‘When he first started releasing 
songs again nobody realised how successful he would be in terms of his new music.

‘But as well as his new stuff, Craig David has a back catalogue of some really good tunes too, I am excited.

‘He fits in with the type of music we want at Mutiny and he will hopefully attract a crowd which knows both his old and new music.

‘Having him as a headline act will help make the fifth Mutiny Festival the best yet.’

Luke said the team behind the festival were excited to announce a UK act first, showing off home-grown talent.

He said the decision came after some people questioned why American 
hip-hop artist 50 Cent was announced first as one of their headline acts for this year’s two-day event, which brought £2.7m into the city.

‘We like to get a big UK name for the festival and last year that was Chase and Status,’ Luke said.

‘We like to support home-grown talent as well as securing the big, international names too.’

Craig is known for his links to Southampton after being born in the city. But Luke said they were not worried about any possible backlash.

He added: ‘Ninety-nine per cent of people won’t care and will appreciate him for his music.’

Next year’s Mutiny Festival is being held on May 26 and May 27.

As previously reported in The News, organisers will be aiming to make the festival safer for its younger visitors with photographic ID checks and wristbands for under-18s after concerns were raised by police.

Find out more about Mutiny Festival on our dedicated website page.