Grace Jones
Grace Jones on her Hurricane Tour 2009
Background information
Birth name	Grace Jones
Born	(1948-05-19) 19 May 1948 (age 64)[1] Spanish Town, Saint Catherine, Jamaica
Origin
Genres	Pop, New Wave, reggae, rock, soul, R&B, electronic, house, dance, disco
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress, model
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1973–present
Labels	Island Records, Manhattan Records, Capitol Records, Wall of Sound, PIAS Recordings

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

Jones started out as a model and became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively.^[2][3] During that era she regularly went to the New York City nightclub Studio 54. 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. Many of her singles were hits on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts, for example 1981 "Pull Up to the Bumper", which spent seven weeks at #2 on the U.S. dance chart.^[4] 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. Her 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)".

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[link]

Background and early career[link]

Grace Jones was born in 1948 in Spanish Town, Jamaica, the daughter of Marjorie and Robert W. Jones, who was a politician and Apostolic clergyman.^[5] Her parents took Grace and her brothers, Chris and Noel Jones (Bishop Noel Jones), and relocated to Syracuse, New York in 1965, where she studied theatre at Syracuse University.^[6] Before becoming a successful model in New York City and Paris, Jones studied theatre at Onondaga Community College. In the 1973 film Gordon's War, Jones played the role of Mary, a Harlem drug courier.

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits and a large gay following.^[7] Her debut, disco-oriented album Portfolio was released in 1977 to a considerable success, and spawned hits "I Need a Man" and "La Vie en rose". Two next albums followed, Fame in 1978 and Muse in 1979, which generated more pop melodies set to a disco beat, such as "Do or Die" or "On Your Knees". Although popular in club market, her first three albums failed to break the mainstream sales charts. During that period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, who photographed her extensively.^[2][3] 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.^[8] In 1978, she appeared with the French model and singer Amanda Lear in the controversial six-episode Italian TV series Stryx.

Early 1980s: Compass Point Studios period[link]

At the beginning of the 1980s, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music to create a different style for herself. Still with Island, and now working with producers Chris Blackwell, Alex Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars, and recording at Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, she released the critically acclaimed album Warm Leatherette in 1980. This included re-imaginings of songs by The Pretenders ("Private Life"), Roxy Music ("Love Is the Drug"), Tom Petty ("Breakdown"), The Normal ("Warm Leatherette") and Smokey Robinson ("The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"). The record met with even greater success than her previous disco albums and the song "Private Life" was her first to enter UK Singles Chart, and still remains one of her highest-charting singles in that country. Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual makeover, created in partnership with stylist Jean-Paul Goude.^[9] Jones adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular, padded clothes. The cover photographs of Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing exemplified this new identity.

1981 saw the release of Nightclubbing, a rapid follow-up to Warm Leatherette. Jones chose a number of well-known hits to reinterpret, including 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 recognizable tunes and the self-penned, post-disco dance track "Pull Up to the Bumper" 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.^[10] 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.^[11] In 1981, Jones, appearing alongside noted psychotherapist Sonja Vetter, caused a controversy by 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.^[12][13] This topped a 2006 BBC poll of the most-shocking British TV chat show moments.^[14]

In 1981 and 1982, Jones toured the UK, Continental Europe, Scandinavia and the USA 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.^[15] 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' 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[link]

In the mid-1980s, she worked with Trevor Horn and Bruce Woolley for the conceptual musical collage Slave to the Rhythm, which was released in the fall of 1985. The well-received album consisted of several re-workings of the title track, which is arguably the most popular song ever delivered by Grace Jones. Although never charted in the Hot 100, the single did well on the R&B charts, dance charts, and in the UK, peaking at number 12.^[16] Slave to the Rhythm, together with Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing albums, is now recognised as one of Grace Jones' best works.^[17][18] In December, her first retrospective album was released. Island Life collected most of the singles from her 1977 debut up to recent 1985 hits. It included new versions of "Love Is the Drug", which charted again, as so did "Pull Up to the Bumper". Her next studio release, the first album after leaving the Island Records label, was Inside Story (1986), on which she worked with Nile Rodgers. It produced her last Billboard Hot 100 hit to date, "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)", one of several songs she co-wrote with Bruce Woolley.^[19] 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 one more soundtrack single in 1993; "Evilmainya", recorded for the film Freddie as F.R.O.7. She recorded two albums during the 1990s, but they remain unreleased or unfinished thus far.^[20] In 1994, she was due to release an electro album titled Black Marilyn with artwork featuring the singer as Marilyn Monroe. "Sex Drive" was released as the first single, however, due to heavy disagreements with producers, the record was shelved. In June 1998, she was scheduled to release an album entitled Force of Nature, on which she worked with trip hop musician Tricky.^[21] 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;^[22] a slowed-down version of this song became the title track of her comeback album released ten years later. Jones cut the song "Storm" in 1998 for the movie The Avengers. In 1999 she appeared in an episode of the Beastmaster television series as the Umpatra Warrior.

Recent career[link]

In 2000, Jones cut "The Perfect Crime"(to the show Crime Perfeito), an up-tempo song for Danish TV written by the composer duo Floppy M. aka Jacob Duus & Kåre Jacobsen. Also in 2000, Jones collaborated with rapper Lil' Kim, appearing on the song "Revolution" from her album The Notorious K.I.M..^[23] A year later, she appeared alongside Tim Curry in Wolf Girl (also known as Blood Moon), as a transvestite circus performer named Christoph/Christine. On 28 May 2002, she performed onstage in Modena, Italy with Italian opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during his annual Pavarotti and Friends concert to support the UN refugee agency's programs for Angolan refugees in Zambia.^[24] Together they performed the aria "Pourquoi me réveiller?" from Jules Massenet's opera Werther. In November 2004, Jones sang her hit "Slave to the Rhythm" at a tribute concert for record producer Trevor Horn at London's Wembley Arena.^[25][26] In April 2005 Jones raised a controversy, when she was accused of verbally abusing a Eurostar train manager in a quarrel over a ticket upgrade, and she either was escorted off the train or left of her own accord, later saying that she had been mistreated.^[27] In February 2006, Jones was the celebrity runway model for Diesel's show in New York.

Grace Jones at Roskilde Festival 2009.

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^[28]) was released on 27 October 2008, on Wall of Sound/PIAS Records, meeting with positive reviews.^[29][30][28] "Corporate Cannibal" became the album's lead single, with its music video directed by Nick Hooker.^[31] Jones embarked on a concert tour at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, 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 album Prohibition released in autumn 2009, and produced by Ivor Guest. On 26 April 2010 Grace Jones performed at Royal Albert Hall, receiving rave reviews.^[32] 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" was the third commercial single off Hurricane. In 2011 Jones again collaborated with Brigitte Fontaine on two tracks from Fontaine's 2011 release entitled L'un n'empêche pas l'autre and performed at the opening ceremony of the 61st FIFA Congress.^[33] Autumn 2011 saw the release of the "dub" version of Hurricane.

Style, image and voice[link]

Grace Jones live in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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.^[9] 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.^[34] 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^[12] and has been an inspiration for numerous other artists, including Annie Lennox,^[35] Lady Gaga and Rihanna.^[36][37]

Jones is a contralto. Although her image became equally as notable as her voice, she is a highly stylised vocalist. She sings in two modes: in her monotone speak-sing as in songs such as "Private Life", "Walking in the Rain" and "The Apple Stretching" and in an almost-soprano mode in songs such as "La Vie en rose" and "Slave to the Rhythm". Her voice spans two and a half octaves.^[20][36]

Personal life[link]

At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, Grace Jones had a relationship with Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren^[38] and with French graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude, with whom she has a son, Paulo, who is a member of the band Trybez, and through whom Grace has a granddaughter.^[36] Jones has been married twice; her first husband was producer Chris Stanley whom she married in 1989. She married second husband, bodyguard Atila Altaunbay in 1996.^[39] The couple later divorced.^[40] Her current boyfriend is music producer Ivor Guest.^[41]

Jones has been a subject of circulating stories about her alleged bisexuality,^[42] which she herself has never confirmed nor denied. She is believed to have slept with a model Janice Dickinson, while dating actor Dolph Lundgren, to whom she was engaged.^[43][39] In a 1985 interview for an Australian show Day by Day Jones stated: "I find women attractive. If I didn't, I wouldn't find myself attractive". Then, asked if that makes her bisexual, replied: "That doesn't make me anything".^[44]

Discography[link]

• Portfolio (1977)
• Fame (1978)
• Muse (1979)
• Warm Leatherette (1980)
• Nightclubbing (1981)
• Living My Life (1982)
• Slave to the Rhythm (1985)
• Inside Story (1986)
• Bulletproof Heart (1989)
• Hurricane (2008)

Filmography[link]

Movies[link]

• 1973: Gordon's War
• 1976: Let's Make a Dirty Movie
• 1976: Colt 38 Special Squad
• 1979: Army of Lovers or Revolution of the Perverts (documentary)
• 1981: Deadly Vengeance
• 1984: Made in France (documentary)
• 1984: Conan the Destroyer
• 1985: A View to a Kill
• 1986: Vamp
• 1987: Straight to Hell
• 1987: Siesta
• 1990: Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (documentary)
• 1992: Boomerang
• 1995: Cyber Bandits
• 1998: McCinsey's Island
• 1999: Palmer's Pick Up
• 2006: No Place Like Home
• 2008: Falco – verdammt, wir leben noch!
• 2008: Chelsea on the Rocks

Television work[link]

• 1978: Stryx
• 1982: A One Man Show
• 1988: Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
• 1999: Beastmaster
• 2001: Wolf Girl
• 2001: Shaka Zulu: The Citadel

Awards and nominations[link]

Jones is a three-time Saturn Award nominee, a Grammy nominee, an MTV Video Music Awards nominee, a Razzie Award nominee and a Q Awards winner. She has also ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll.^[45]

Grammy Awards

• 1983: Best Long Form Music Video for her A One Man Show (Nomination)

MTV Video Music Award

• 1986: Best Female Video for "Slave to the Rhythm" (Nomination)

Q Music Award

• 2008: Q Idol (Winner)

Razzie Awards

• 1987: Worst Supporting Actress for Siesta (Nomination)

Saturn Awards

• 1985: Best Supporting Actress for Conan the Destroyer (Nomination)
• 1986: Best Supporting Actress for A View to a Kill (Nomination)
• 1987: Best Supporting Actress for Vamp (Nomination)

References[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Grace Jones on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Official Grace Jones website
• Official Grace Jones page at Facebook
• Official Grace Jones page at Twitter
• Official Grace Jones page and Official Grace Jones VEVO page at YouTube
• Official Grace Jones page at MySpace