YolanDa Brown OBE DL

YolanDa Brown is a double MOBO Award winning artist, her music is a delicious fusion of reggae, jazz, and soul. She has toured with The Temptations, Jools Holland, Billy Ocean and she is currently composing music for the iconic Sesame Street, an animated series called Bea’s Block on HBO Max and Sky Kids, as well as the Netflix Series CoComelon Lane. She was awarded an OBE for services to music, music education and broadcasting in the 2023 New Year Honours List by his Majesty the King. YolanDa is Chair of BPI (BRIT Awards / Mercury Prize). A music education champion, YolanDa was Chair of Youth Music for six years, sits on the Arts Council National Council, in 2024 she was appointed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to sit on the arts and media honours committee, a trustee of PRS Foundation and a King’s Trust ambassador. She was recently announced as the new Chancellor of the University of Kent and in 2026 awarded the Freedom of the City of Newcastle. A BAFTA nominee, her CBeebies series "YolanDa’s Band Jam" won Royal Television Society Best Children’s Programme. On the airways she presents on Jazz FM, Scala Radio, Magic FM, and BBC Radio 4. After a Guinness World Record breaking crowdfund YolanDa launched her own music venue and restaurant, Soul Mama in Spring 2024 on the ground floor of the Hilton Gantry Hotel. YolanDa is set to launch her second venue at Westfields Stratford in Spring 2026. YolanDa loves to drive fast cars around racetracks in her spare time and can even rattle off a Rubik’s Cube in around five minutes (on a good day). A real renaissance woman set to reach new heights.