Lauryn Hill Comes Out of Hiding To Play Montreux Jazz Festival

The ever-reclusive Lauryn Hill will be return to the stage this summer to play at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival.  Hill will play on July 11 at the Stravinski Auditorium, immediately following a tribute to musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone that will feature Dianne Reeves, Lizz Wright and Angelique Kidjo.

Since breaking up with the Fugees and releasing her 18 times platinum The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998, Hill has limited her public exposure by only performing at a few, sporadically scheduled shows.  In July 2007, concertgoers in London booed the singer after she appeared on stage two hours late.  Upon her return to the stage in August of 2007 at Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood, Hill completed a 2-hour set that featured hits from Bob Marley, Roberta Flack, and the Fugees, as well as her own solo material.
In its 43rd year, the Montreux fest, which runs from July 3-18, will feature over 1,000 artists performing in 90 separate concerts featuring such diverse artists as B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, The Black Eyed Peas, Susan Tedeschi, Solomon Burke, Steely Dan, The Dave Matthews Band, George Benson and Marianne Faithfull.
In his 2006 appearance at the festival, B.B. King told the crowd that it would be his final appearance at the festival, but with the announcement that King will be on the bill this summer, it appears that King, at age 83, is still eager to perform his music in front of an appreciative live audience.

In addition to the Simone tribute, there will also be a three-day tribute to Chris Blackwell the founder of Island Records.  Blackwell signed Hill’s father-in-law, the late Bob Marley, to the label in 1972.