Meltdown is an annual festival held in London, featuring a mix of music, art, performance and film. Meltdown is held in June at Southbank Centre, the arts complex covering 21 acres (85,000 m2) and including the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and The Hayward. Each year, the festival chooses an established music artist or act as director of the event, and they pick the performers of their choosing. Previous Meltdown directors have included Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Lee Scratch Perry, Morrissey, Jarvis Cocker, Nick Cave, Scott Walker, John Peel and Ornette Coleman. The festival has been held annually since 1993, except in 2006 when the Royal Festival Hall was closed for refurbishment. On November 6, 2019, Grace Jones was announced as the curator of the 2020 Meltdown, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this has since been rescheduled to 2022.

Patricia Lee Smith is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, and author whose 1975 debut album Horses made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fused rock and poetry in her work. In 1978, her most widely known song, "Because the Night", co-written with Bruce Springsteen, reached 13th on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and fifth on the UK Singles Chart.