Grace Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. In 1981, her "Pull Up to the Bumper" spent seven weeks at #2 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, and became a Top 5 single on the U.S. R&B; chart. Although she has yet to become a truly mainstream recording artist in the United States, much of Jones's musical output is very popular in American clubs as many of the singles were hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. Jones was able to find mainstream success in Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, scoring a number of Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart. Jones's most notable albums are ''Warm Leatherette'', ''Nightclubbing'' and ''Slave to the Rhythm'', while her biggest hits (other than "Pull Up to the Bumper") are "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)", "Private Life", "Slave to the Rhythm" and "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)". During the 1970s, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively. During this era she regularly went to the New York City nightclub Studio 54.

Jones is also an actress. Her acting occasionally overshadowed her musical output in America; but not in Europe, where her profile as a recording artist was much higher. She appeared in some low-budget films in the 1970s and early 1980s. Her work as an actress in mainstream film began in the 1984 fantasy-action film ''Conan the Destroyer'' alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the 1985 James Bond movie ''A View to a Kill''. In 1986 she played a vampire in ''Vamp'', and both acted in and contributed a song to the 1992 film ''Boomerang'' with Eddie Murphy. In 2001, she appeared in ''Wolf Girl'' alongside Tim Curry.

Life and career

Background and early career

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits and a large gay following. The three disco-oriented albums she recorded – ''Portfolio'' (1977), ''Fame'' (1978), and ''Muse'' (1979) – generated considerable success in that market. These albums consisted of pop melodies set to a disco beat, such as "On Your Knees" or "Do or Die" and standards such as "What I Did for Love" from musical ''A Chorus Line'', Jacques Prévert's "Autumn Leaves", "Send in the Clowns" from Stephen Sondheim's ''A Little Night Music'' and Édith Piaf's signature tune "La Vie en rose". During this period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively. Jones also accompanied him to New York City nightclub Studio 54 on many occasions. The colourful artwork and design for Jones' three first albums and accompanying single releases were created by another of Warhol's longtime collaborators, Richard Bernstein, arguably best known for his many cover illustrations for ''Interview Magazine'' in the 1970s and early 1980s. In 1978, she appeared with French model and singer Amanda Lear in the controversial six-episode Italian TV series ''Stryx''.

Early 1980s: Compass Point Studios period

1981 saw the release of ''Nightclubbing'', a rapid follow-up to ''Warm Leatherette''. Jones chose a number of well-known hits to reinterpret, including The Police's "Demolition Man", Iggy Pop's and David Bowie's "Nightclubbing" and Ástor Piazzolla's "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)". The latter would become one of the Jones's most recognisable tunes and the self-penned, post-disco dance track "Pull Up to the Bumper", which spent seven weeks at #2 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Club Play chart, and became a Top 5 single on the U.S. R&B; chart when released as a single in the fall of 1981. However, both ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' albums also included a few tracks co-written by Jones herself, such as "A Rolling Stone" and "Feel Up". In the UK, ''Nightclubbing'' claimed the number one slot on music magazine New Musical Express' Album of the Year listing. In 1981, Jones, appearing alongside noted psychotherapist Sonja Vetter, caused a controversy slapping chat show host Russell Harty across the face live on air after he turned to interview other guests and she felt she was being ignored. This topped a 2006 BBC poll of the most-shocking British TV chat show moments.

In 1981 and 1982, Jones toured the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia and the US with her ''One Man Show'', a performance art/pop theatre presentation devised by Jean-Paul Goude and Jones herself, in which she performed tracks from the albums ''Portfolio'', ''Warm Leatherette'' and ''Nightclubbing'' dressed in elaborate costumes and masks – in the opening sequence as a gorilla – and alongside a series of Grace Jones lookalikes. A video version, filmed live in London and New York City and completed with some studio footage, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long-Form Music Video next year. Her collaboration with Blackwell, Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars continued with the dub reggae-influenced album ''Living My Life'' (1982), which featured the self-penned "My Jamaican Guy", sung in patois and a cover of "The Apple Stretching" by Melvin Van Peebles. In 1984, Jones's work as an actress in mainstream film began, with the role of Zula, the Amazon, in ''Conan the Destroyer'' alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and former NBA player Wilt Chamberlain. She next landed the role of May Day in the fourteenth James Bond movie ''A View to a Kill'' (1985).

Late 1980s and 1990s

She sang vocals along with Simon Le Bon in the international top 10 dance-pop hit "Election Day", which Le Bon's then band Arcadia released in October 1985. She appeared in the 1986 vampire film ''Vamp'' where she played a queen vampire.

Her ninth studio album, ''Bulletproof Heart'' (1989), spawned the Number 1 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play hit "Love on Top of Love (Killer Kiss)", produced by C+C Music Factory's David Cole and Robert Clivillés. The second and the final single, "Amado Mio", was a cover version of the song used in 1946 film ''Gilda'' and originally performed by Rita Hayworth. ''Bulletproof Heart'' met with lukewarm reception. In 1992 Jones appeared in Eddie Murphy film ''Boomerang'', for which she also contributed the song "7 Day Weekend" to its soundtrack, and released two more singles in 1993: "Evilmainya", recorded for the film ''Freddie as F.R.O.7'', and "Sexdrive". She recorded two albums during the 1990s, but they remain unreleased thus far. In 1994, she was due to release an electro album titled ''Black Marilyn'' with artwork featuring the singer as Marilyn Monroe; in 1998, she was scheduled to release an album entitled ''Force of Nature'', on which she worked with trip hop musician Tricky. The release of ''Force of Nature'' was cancelled due to a disagreement between them and only a white label 12" single featuring two dance mixes of "Hurricane (Cradle to the Grave)" was issued; a slowed-down version of this song became the title track of her comeback album released ten years later. In 1999 she appeared in an episode of the ''Beastmaster'' television series as the Umpatra Warrior.

Recent career

Producer Ivor Guest confirmed that he and Jones had completed recording her new album in 2007. Other participants on the album included the original Compass Point All Stars line-up, including Sly and Robbie, Mikey Chung and Wally Badarou, joined by Brian Eno, Bruce Woolley, Tricky and Tony Allen. The ''Hurricane'' album (initially to be titled ''Corporate Cannibal'') was released on 27 October 2008, on Wall of Sound/PIAS Records, meeting with positive reviews. "Corporate Cannibal" became the album's lead single, with its music video directed by Nick Hooker. Jones embarked on a concert tour at the end of 08 and beginning of 09, and appeared at Secret Garden Party and Latitude Festival to promote the new album. The video for the second single, "Williams' Blood", used live footage from the Hurricane Tour. Grace Jones also collaborated with the avant-garde poet Brigitte Fontaine on a duet named " Soufi" from Fontaine's latest album 'Prohibition' released in the fall 2009, and produced by Ivor Guest. On 26 April 2010 Grace Jones performed at Royal Albert Hall, receiving rave reviews. ''A One Man Show'' was released on DVD, as ''Grace Jones – Live in Concert'', in 2010 with 3 bonus videoclips ("Slave to the Rhythm", "Love Is the Drug" and "Crush"). "Love You to Life", the third single off ''Hurricane'', was released on 2 May 2010. Grace Jones collaborated again with the French avant-garde poet Brigitte Fontaine on two tracks (Dancefloor and La Caravane) on Fontaine's 2011 release entitled "L'un n'empêche pas l'autre". (This album also produced by Ivor Guest). Jones performed at the opening ceremony of the 61st FIFA Congress.

Style, image and voice

In the late 1970s, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes, created in partnership with stylist Jean-Paul Goude. She would also exemplify the so-called "flat top" hairstyle in many of her concerts in the 1970s, which would become popular among black men in the 1980s. Her first album cover to feature this hairstyle was 1980's ''Warm Leatherette''. Her strong visual presence was an advantage for her music videos and concert tours. In her concert performances, she adopted various personas and wore outlandish costumes, particularly during her years with Goude. One such performance was at the Paradise Garage in 1985, for which she collaborated with visual artist Keith Haring for her costume. Haring painted her body in tribal patterns and fitted her with wire armour. The muralist also painted her body for the video to "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)" and the 1986 vampire film ''Vamp''. Grace Jones's striking appearance, height (5'10½" or 1.79 m), and manner influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s. To this day, she is known for her unique look at least as much as she is for her music and has been an inspiration for numerous other artists, including Annie Lennox and Lady Gaga.

Jones is a contralto. Although her image became equally as notable as her voice, she is a highly stylised vocalist.

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

Movies

Television work

Awards and nominations

Saturn Awards

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Award

Razzie Awards

Q Music Award

References

External links

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:American contraltos Category:American disco musicians Category:American female models Category:American female singers Category:American house musicians Category:American pop singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:Androgyny Category:American disco musicians Category:English-language singers Category:Female New Wave singers Category:French-language singers Category:American people of Jamaican descent Category:Jamaican female models Category:Jamaican female singers Category:Jamaican emigrants to the United States Category:People from Saint Catherine Parish Category:People from Syracuse, New York Category:ZTT Records artists