Harry Styles is a taking huge new step in his career as curator of the Southbank Centre's 2026 Meltdown festival in London this summer, it's been announced.
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The hitmaker, 32, is following in the footsteps of past curators including David Bowie, Nile Rodgers, Grace Jones and Yoko Ono.
Harry will take the reins of the iconic venue for 11 days this June, putting together a programme of art and music, including headline performance from the man himself - just days before shows at Wembley Stadium as part of his Together, Together tour.
Meltdown is the world's longest-running artist-curated music festival and will be presented as part of the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary this year.
Following the announcement, Harry said: 'I'm deeply honoured to curate the Meltdown festival, especially for the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary year. My goal as the curator is to share the music and art that I love, and to celebrate the rich history of the venue'.
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We both share a passionate belief that music is a vital part of life. It brings us together and the Southbank Centre has been at the heart of it, providing easy access to great music for the past 75 years. I'm incredibly grateful to Southbank for having me, it's really exciting for me to have this opportunity in such an iconic venue.'
Harry Styles is a taking huge new step in his career as curator of the Southbank Centre's 2026 Meltdown festival in London this summer, it's been announced
The hitmaker is following in the footsteps of past curators including David Bowie (pictured 2003) Nile Rodgers, Grace Jones and Yoko Ono
Harry Styles' Meltdown takes place 11 – 21 June 2026. Full line-up and dates for ticket releases will be announced in Spring 2026.
The festival will offer a public programme of interactive, participatory and free events, designed to engage young people across the UK and reflect ways younger audiences increasingly experience culture.
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Mark Ball, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre, said: 'Harry Styles is an iconic British artist with a global influence whose impact extends across artistic disciplines, generations and borders'.
'We are thrilled and excited that Harry Styles' Meltdown sits at the heart of a 75th anniversary year that champions young people, their curiosity and creative freedom. Throughout our 75-year history, the Southbank Centre has existed to give our greatest artists a platform to take creative risks and present work that pushes contemporary culture into new and unexpected directions'.
Harry Styles' Meltdown feels like a natural expression of what the Southbank Centre exists to do, and we are delighted to become his creative playground in our anniversary year.'
The Southbank Centre's award-winning Meltdown festival has been running annually since 1993 and is the longest-running artist-curated music festival in the world. Each year the Southbank Centre invites a different cultural figure to act as curator and select performers and events of their choosing.
It comes after Harry added two more Wembley Stadium dates to his Together Together tour after fans branded him 'greedy' and 'out of touch' for ridiculous ticket prices.
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The singer, who had previously announced 10 shows at the iconic venue, will now make history this summer when he takes to the stage to play a record 12 times at the stadium.
Harry will take the reins of the iconic venue for 11 days this June, putting together a programme of art, music, including headline performance from the man himself (pictured 2022)
Meltdown is the world's longest-running artist-curated music festival and will be presented as part of the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary this year
Following the announcement, Harry said: 'I'm deeply honoured to curate the Meltdown festival, especially for the Southbank Centre's 75th anniversary year' (Nile Rogers pictured)
It means that the former One Direction star will surpass Coldplay to become the act who has played the venue the most times in a single tour after they did 10 gigs last summer as part of their Music of the Spheres tour.
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Previously, Taylor Swift held the most performances by a solo artist at Wembley Stadium after eight shows during her Eras Tour, nabbing the title from Michael Jackson, who performed seven.
The Watermelon Sugar hitmaker will now take to the iconic venue on June 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 26, 27, 29 and the first, third and fourth of July.
However as pre-sale tickets went on sale, many fans have branded Harry as 'greedy' and 'out of touch' after seeing the sky-high ticket prices for his tour.
The singer will travel to seven cities for a string of dates, but after the tour's pre-sales began on Monday, fans were quick to vent their fury at the high cost of tickets, especially compared to his previous Love On Tour, which wrapped in 2023.
Seats on the London leg range from £44 ($60.80) to a £466.24 ($642.76) for seats, while the standing prices range from £144 ($199.45) to £279 ($385.34), and VIP packages cost from an eye-watering £468.85 ($646.50) to £725 ($1,000).
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Tickets for this pre-sale have been priced by the Event Organiser from £44.10 to £466.25 (including fees) with a per order handling fee of £2.95.
However that does not include VIP prices. Ticket prices will not change during the presale or onsale.
Harry Styles' Meltdown takes place 11 – 21 June 2026. Full line-up and dates for ticket releases will be announced in Spring 2026.