Bengaluru-based musician Ricky Kej to perform at Cannes Film Festival’s opening night

Ricky Kej.

Ricky Kej, musician, two-time Grammy award winner and Bengaluru resident, will perform live at the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival on May 18. The honour of performing on the opening night at the prestigious Cannes Festival comes in a year when India has been designated the ‘Country of Honour’ for the first time ever.

The 40-year-old Kej is part of the official Indian delegation that walked the red carpet of the film festival along with Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur and a host of personalities from the world of cinema, including Deepika Padukone, Nayanthara, Aishwarya Rai, Vani Tripathi, Tamannaah Bhatia, Shekar Kapur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, R. Madhavan, A.R. Rahman and many more.

Kej, who, along with American composer Stewart Copeland, won in the ‘Best New Album’ category for their work Divine Tides in April at the 64th Grammy Awards held in Las Vegas, will perform at Le Majestic Plage, one of the French Riviera’s most sought after luxury beaches.

Kej studied to be a dentist, but pursued a career in music and won his first Grammy Award in 2015 at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for his album Winds of Samsara in the Best New Age Album category.

The musician, who has performed at venues in over 30 countries, including at the United Nations headquarters in New York and Geneva, is also known for his passionate support for environmental causes. He was named a UNCCD Land Ambassador at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 14) to raise public awareness about the challenges of land degradation, desertification and drought.

In keeping with his concerns for the environment, Kej decided to walk the red carpet at Cannes on May 17 wearing the same outfit that he had sported at the 64th Grammy Awards and then posted on his Facebook page this message under the heading ‘Fashion can be trendy twice’: “ReWear your outfits for different occasions and do your part in reducing damage dealt to the Earth. This year, I was on 2 of the biggest stages in the world, the Grammy Awards & Cannes Film Festival and chose to wear the same outfit. Fast fashion isn’t always fashionable. Especially when we consider its impact on our planet (the fashion industry is one of the most polluting on the planet). The use of toxic textile dyes, cheap materials and massive use of water & translates to environmental pollution. For decades, repeating an outfit for galas and events would be considered a fashion blunder—encouraging people to switch up outfits for every event, making clothes ‘Single Use’. It;s time to change that narrative. It’s time we consider our planet in this equation. Fashion Can Be Trendy Twice. #ReWear4Earth your outfits, take a picture and use the hashtag...and do your part for the planet. The Earth wouldn’t remember what you wore. It will remember how you treat it.”