It has served as the venue for the Montreux Jazz Festival and was rebuilt following a 1971 fire memorialized in the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water".

The three-day festival was held there annually and featured performers such as Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Evans, Nina Simone, Jan Garbarek, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald.

On December 4, 1971, Montreux Casino was destroyed by a fire that began during a concert by the Mothers of Invention after a fan had shot a flare gun.

Their song "Smoke on the Water" was written about the incident: We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline / To make records with a mobile - We didn't have much time / Frank Zappa & the Mothers were at the best place around / But some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground / Smoke on the water, a fire in the sky...Frank Zappa calmly urged the concert attendees to evacuate, and the fire brigade was on scene in less than five minutes.

The festival continued to be hosted there until 1993, when it moved to the larger Montreux Convention Centre located approximately one kilometre from the casino.