Grace Jones (born May 19, 1948) is a
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n-
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer,
modelthumb|200px|Alesya Nazarova modeling a dress by [[bebe stores|bebe]]A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed for the purpose of displaying and promoting fashion clothing or other products and for advertising or promotional purposes or who poses for works of art.Modeling...
, and
actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Early life
Jones was born in
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, the daughter of Marjorie and Robert W. Jones, who was a politician and
ApostolicApostolic may refer to:*The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Apostles*Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Church to the original Twelve Apostles...
clergyman. Her parents took Grace and her brother Randy to relocate to
Syracuse, New YorkSyracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2000 census, the city population was 147,306, and its metropolitan area had a population of 732,117. It is the economic and educational hub of Central New...
in 1965. Before becoming a successful model in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Jones studied theater at
Onondaga Community CollegeOnondaga Community College is an accredited two-year educational institution that services Onondaga County, New York at three campuses. Onondaga Community College is a college of the State University of New York system and one of 30 locally sponsored community colleges throughout New York...
.
Musical career
Jones secured a record deal with
Island RecordsIsland Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in England for many years, but is now owned by Universal Music Group and is operated in the United States through The Island Def Jam Music Group and in the UK through Island Records Group...
in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits and a large
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
following. The three disco albums she recorded—
Portfolio (1977),
FameFame is the second studio album by Grace Jones. It was released in 1978. Just like on her debut album, Portfolio, side A is a continuous Tom Moulton-disco medley, with a total running time of 18:47...
(1978), and
Muse (1979)—generated considerable success in that market. These albums consisted of pop melodies set to a disco beat (such as "All on a Summer's Night" and "Do or Die,") and standards (such as "What I Did for Love," "
Autumn Leaves"Autumn Leaves" is a much-recorded popular song. Originally a 1945 French song "Les feuilles mortes" with music by Joseph Kosma and lyrics by poet Jacques Prévert, the American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote English lyrics in 1947. Jo Stafford was among the first to perform this version...
," and "
Send in the Clowns"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she looks back on an affair years earlier with the lawyer Fredrik...
").
During this period, she also became a muse to
Andy WarholAndrew Warhola , more commonly known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, who photographed her extensively. Jones also accompanied him to famed
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
nightclub
Studio 54Studio 54 is a New York City Broadway theater and former discothèque located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The disco opened on April 26, 1977 and closed in March 1986 and briefly reopened in 1994 after a multi-million dollar renovation...
on many occasions.
Toward the end of the 1970s, Jones adapted the emerging
New Wave musicNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
to create a different style for herself. Still with Island, and now working with producers
Chris BlackwellChris Blackwell is the founder of Island Records. Born in London to an Irish father and a Costa Rican-born Sephardic Jewish mother. Blackwell spent his childhood in Jamaica. He was sent to England to continue his education at Harrow School. Deciding not to go to university, he returned to...
,
Alex SadkinAlex Sadkin is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
and the
Compass Point All StarsThe Compass Point phenomenon was meant to be to reggae-based pop/rock music of the 80s, what Nashville was to country music, or the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section was to soul and R&B in the 60s: a recording facility animated by inhouse sets of artists, musicians, producers and engineers, all...
, she released the acclaimed albums
Warm LeatheretteWarm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Grace Jones. Released in 1980, Warm Leatherette was the first of three albums produced by Chris Blackwell at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas...
(1980) and
NightclubbingNightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1981. It is the second of three post-disco albums that Jones made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and became Jones' commercial breakthrough and also formed the basis of her groundbreaking concept tour A One Man Show...
(1981). These included re-imaginings of songs by Sting,
Iggy PopIggy Pop is a songwriter, and occasional actor. Although he has had only limited mainstream commercial success, Iggy Pop is considered an influential innovator of punk rock, hard rock, and other related styles...
,
The PretendersThe Pretenders are a British rock band. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
,
Roxy MusicRoxy Music are an English art rock group initiated during the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry . The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eno's replacement Eddie Jobson...
,
Flash and the PanFlash and the Pan was an Australian New Wave group formed in the late 1970s by Harry Vanda and George Young, both former members of the Easybeats. George Young is also an older brother to Angus Young and Malcolm Young of AC/DC...
,
The NormalThe Normal is the recording artist name used by English music producer Daniel Miller, a film editor at the time, who is best known as the founder of the record label Mute Records....
,
Ástor PiazzollaAstor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
, and
Tom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
.
Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual makeover, created in partnership with stylist
Jean-Paul GoudeJean-Paul Goude is a French graphic designer, illustrator, photographer and advertising film director. He created several well-known campaigns for brands such as Perrier, Citroën and Chanel....
, with whom she had a son. Jones adopted a severe, androgynous look, with square-cut hair and angular,
paddedShoulder pads are a piece of protective equipment used in American and Canadian football. Most modern shoulder pads consist of a shock absorbing foam material with a hard plastic outer covering. The pieces are usually secured by rivets or strings that the user can tie to adjust the size.A related...
clothes. The iconic cover photographs of
Nightclubbing and, subsequently,
Slave to the RhythmSlave to the Rhythm is an album by Grace Jones. It was produced by Trevor Horn and released in 1985. The album was written by Bruce Woolley, Simon Darlow, Stephen Lipson and Trevor Horn...
(1985) exemplified this new identity. To this day, Jones is known for her unique look at least as much as she is for her music. Her collaboration with Blackwell, Sadkin and the Compass Point All Stars continued with the
dub reggaeDub is an instrumental subgenre of reggae music, that involves revisions of existing songs. The dub sound consists predominantly of instrumental remixes of existing recordings and is achieved by significantly manipulating and reshaping the recordings, usually by removing the vocals from an existing...
–influenced album
Living My LifeLiving My Life is an album by Grace Jones released in 1982. It was the last of three albums she recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas...
.
In the mid-1980s, she worked with
Trevor HornTrevor Charles Horn is an English pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England....
for the conceptual musical collage
Slave to the Rhythm and with producer
Nile RodgersNile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, composer, arranger, and guitarist, and is considered one of the most influential music producers in the history of popular music.-Biography:...
for
Inside StoryInside Story is Grace Jones's eighth studio album, and her first with the Manhattan Records label. It was also her first time working with producer Nile Rodgers...
(1986)—her first album after leaving the Island Records label. The well-received
Slave to the Rhythm consisted of several re-workings of the title track (the single of which hit #12 in the UK), while
Inside Story produced her last
Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
hit to date, "
I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)"I'm Not Perfect " is the first single from Grace Jones' album Inside Story. The song was co-written by Bruce Woolley and produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic fame.-Chart performance:...
," one of several songs she co-wrote with
Bruce WoolleyBruce Woolley, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer.- Early History :Bruce Woolley was born in Loughborough, England on 11 November 1953 and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School where he learned electric guitar, began to write songs and where he met his future wife, Tessa...
.
Bulletproof HeartBulletproof Heart is the ninth studio album by Grace Jones and was released in 1989. Singles from the album were "Love on Top of Love" and "Amado Mio"...
(1989) spawned the #1 U.S.
Hot Dance Club PlayBillboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
hit "Love on Top of Love" / "Killer Kiss", produced by
C+C Music FactoryC+C Music Factory is a dance music production group distinguished for having seven number 1 Dance/Club Play hits in the early to mid 1990s, as well as several pop crossover hits, one of which, "Gonna Make You Sweat ", reached number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B singles charts...
's
David ColeDavid B. Cole was a record producer. He was also a half of dance group C+C Music Factory , a group he founded with musical partner Robert Clivillés....
and Robert Clivilles.
Although she has yet to become a truly mainstream recording artist in the United States (with the exception of her featured work on the Arcadia hit single "
Election Day"Election Day" was the first single released by the Duran Duran off-shoot band, Arcadia. It was released by Parlophone Records in October 1985 and subsequently hit the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at #6 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK, but was the most successful in Ireland, peaking...
"), much of her musical output is still popular on the Billboard's
Hot Dance Club PlayBillboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
and
Hot Dance AirplayHot Dance Airplay is a monitored dance music radio chart that is featured weekly in Billboard magazine. The chart came about as a result of the small but influential impact of electronic dance music on the radio in the United States and the stations that program it.-History:The chart made its debut...
charts, and many of her songs are regarded as classics to this day. Jones was able to find mainstream success in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, scoring a number of Top 40 entries on the
UK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The full chart contains the top 200 singles based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 of this list...
. To date, she has officially released 49 commercial and/or promotional singles (not including re-releases), including several non-album tracks.
Voice
Grace Jones is a
contraltoIn music, a contralto is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice. The typical contralto range lies between the F below middle C to two Fs above middle C...
vocalist. Although her image became more notable than her voice, she is in fact a highly stylized 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-
sopranoA soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
mode in songs such as "
La Vie en Rose"La Vie en rose" was the signature song of French singer Édith Piaf....
" and "Slave to the Rhythm." Her vocal range spans two-and-a-half octaves. She contributed significant vocals to
ArcadiaArcadia were the pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran, during a break in that band's schedule...
's 1985 hit single, "
Election Day"Election Day" was the first single released by the Duran Duran off-shoot band, Arcadia. It was released by Parlophone Records in October 1985 and subsequently hit the top ten on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at #6 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK, but was the most successful in Ireland, peaking...
," from the album
So Red the RoseSo Red The Rose is the platinum-selling album by the Duran Duran-spinoff group Arcadia, which was released in 1985 — the only album the band ever released...
, as well as to their subsequent single "
The Flame"The Flame" is the fourth single released by the Duran Duran off-shoot band, Arcadia. It was released by Parlophone Records in 1986 and was the group's third UK single. It reached number 58 in the UK Singles Chart.-Music video:...
."
Style and image
Grace Jones's masculine appearance, height (5'10½" or 1.79 m), and manner influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s. She would also exemplify the "
Flat TopA flattop is a type of very short hairstyle similar to the crew cut, with the exception that the hair on the top of the head is deliberately styled to stand up and is cut to be flat, resulting in a haircut that is square in shape...
," a hairstyle popular among-but not exclusive to-men in the late-1980s, which she displayed on the cover of her first non-disco album, 1980's
Warm LeatheretteWarm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Grace Jones. Released in 1980, Warm Leatherette was the first of three albums produced by Chris Blackwell at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas...
.
She maintained parallel recording and acting careers, and modeling work often overshadowed her musical output. Her strong visual presence extended to her concert tours. In her 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 HaringKeith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
for her costume. Haring painted her body in tribal patterns and fitted her with wire armor. The muralist also painted her body for the video to "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect for You)."
Recent career
Jones 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 MonroeMarilyn Monroe , born Norma Jeane Mortenson, but baptized Norma Jeane Baker, was an American actress, singer and model....
; in 1998, she was scheduled to release an album entitled
Force of Nature. A white label 12" single featuring two dance mixes of "
Hurricane (Cradle to the Grave)"Hurricane " is a song recorded by Grace Jones in 1997 and intended for an album by the title Force of Nature. The song was a collaboration with Trip-Hop artist Tricky but due to heavy disagreements between Jones and Tricky, the album was never completed, and only "Hurricane" with the subtitle...
" was released; a slowed-down remix of this song became the title track of her album released in 2008. Also in 1998, she sang the title track for the film remake of the cult TV series
The AvengersThe Avengers is a British television adventure series about secret agents in 1960s Britain. The programmes were made by TV company ABC Weekend Television , and created by its Head of Drama Sydney Newman...
. The song "Storm" was written and produced by
Bruce WoolleyBruce Woolley, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer.- Early History :Bruce Woolley was born in Loughborough, England on 11 November 1953 and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School where he learned electric guitar, began to write songs and where he met his future wife, Tessa...
, Chris Elliott, and Marius DeVries and was performed with
The Radio Science Orchestra.
In 2000, Jones cut "The Perfect Crime," an up-tempo song for Danish TV written by the composer duo Floppy M. On May 28, 2002, Jones performed onstage with Italian opera tenor
Luciano PavarottiLuciano Pavarotti Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian operatic tenor, who also crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most commercially successful tenors of all time. He was one of "The Three Tenors" and became well-known for his televised concerts and media...
during Pavarotti's annual "Pavarotti and Friends" concert to support the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
refugee agency's programs for
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
n refugees in
ZambiaThe Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is...
. The concert was held in Modena, Italy, and Jones and Pavarotti were accompanied by the 70-strong Orchestra Sinfonica Italiana, conducted by
Jose MolinaJosé Molina is the name of:*José Francisco Molina, Spanish football goalkeeper* José Molina from Puerto Rico* José Molina of the TV series Dark Angel, Firefly, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit...
.
In November 2004, Jones sang her hit "Slave to the Rhythm" at a tribute concert for
Trevor HornTrevor Charles Horn is an English pop music record producer, songwriter and musician. He was born in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England....
at
Wembley ArenaWembley Arena is an indoor arena in Wembley, London, UK. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 Empire Games by Sir Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer...
. She received rave reviews, despite having been absent in the music scene for some time. In February 2006, Jones was the celebrity runway model for Diesel's show in New York.
On October 20, 2006, the 3-CD compilation
The Ultimate CollectionThe Ultimate Collection is a 3 CD compilation by Grace Jones, released by Universal Music Netherlands in 2006. Remastered in a 32-bit sound....
was released in Europe by the CCM label. On November 3, 2006, Jones took part in a gathering of people sharing the surname, performing "Slave to the Rhythm" and "Pull up to the Bumper" to a large crowd of Joneses. 1,224 people were gathered that day at the
Wales Millennium CentreWales Millennium Centre , which also has a nickname locally as the Armadillo, is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 and phase 2 opened on 22...
in
CardiffCardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for many national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the...
, breaking the previous record for the largest surname-based gathering.
Producer Ivor Guest confirmed that Jones had completed recording of her new album in 2007. Jones revealed in an interview regarding her collaboration with Guest, "...we had a creative chemistry and the music flowed. We remain great friends and have created 23 tracks, of which the rest will form the next album." Nick Hooker has directed the first video from the upcoming album. Other participants on the new album include the original
Compass Point All StarsThe Compass Point phenomenon was meant to be to reggae-based pop/rock music of the 80s, what Nashville was to country music, or the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section was to soul and R&B in the 60s: a recording facility animated by inhouse sets of artists, musicians, producers and engineers, all...
lineup, i.e.
Sly and RobbieSly and Robbie are one of reggae's most prolific and long lasting production teams. The rhythm section of drummer Lowell Dunbar and bass guitarist Robert Shakespeare started working together in the mid 1970s, after having established themselves separately on the Jamaican music scene...
, Barry Reynolds,
Mikey ChungBorn Michael Chung, Mikey Chung is a keyboard, guitar and percussion player, arranger and record producer of Jamaican music.-Biography:...
, Sticky Thompson and
Wally BadarouWaliou Jacques Daniel Badarou is a musician from Benin.A synthesizer specialist, Badarou is best known as the longtime associate of the British band Level 42, known for its blend of funk, pop, soul and rock. He has co-written, performed on and co-produced a number of the band's tracks since its...
, joined by
Brian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as simply Brian Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, music theorist and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at art school, taking...
,
Bruce WoolleyBruce Woolley, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer.- Early History :Bruce Woolley was born in Loughborough, England on 11 November 1953 and was educated at Loughborough Grammar School where he learned electric guitar, began to write songs and where he met his future wife, Tessa...
,
TrickyTricky is an English musician and actor. As a producer and a musician, he is noted for a dark, rich and layered sound and a whispering sprechgesang lyrical style. Culturally, Tricky encourages an intertwining of societies, particularly in his musical fusion of rock and hip hop, high art and pop...
, and
Tony AllenTony Allen may refer to:* Tony Allen , basketball player* Tony Allen , drummer with Fela Kuti and one of the founders of Afrobeat* Tony Allen , Irish performer, member of Foster & Allen with Mick Foster...
. In April 2007, Version2 listed "Corporate Cannibal" as the new video directed by Nick Hooker for Grace Jones. On June 22, 2007, Jones performed in Copenhagen at Tivoli Gardens theme park. Tivoli's Web site mentioned the title of her new album as
Corporate Cannibal"Corporate Cannibal" is the lead single from Grace Jones' 10th studio album Hurricane released on Wall of Sound records in 2008.-Song information:...
, without confirming a release date.
Jones was part of the lineup for
Massive AttackMassive Attack are a British music duo from Bristol, UK, considered to be progenitors of a genre referred to as trip hop, that assemble a collective of various favoured session musicians and guest vocalists with whom they make records and tour live...
's Meltdown at the Southbank Centre in London, taking place from June 14–22, 2008. Jones received positive reviews across many UK newspapers for her comeback show as part of the Meltdown festival on June 19, and she previewed many new songs from her first album of new material in almost 20 years. She also performed at the relaunch of Elandra Resort in Mission Beach in
Cairns, QueenslandCairns is a regional city in Far North Queensland, Australia. The city itself was named after William Wellington Cairns . It was formed to serve miners heading for the Hodgkinson River goldfield, but experienced a decline when an easier route was discovered from Port Douglas...
on June 28, 2008, her first performance in Australia in many years.. Jones headlined the Belgian Lokerse Feesten on August 8, 2008, with a full 2-hour show similar to the one at Meltdown.
Her new album was scheduled for release on October 27, 2008, on Wall of Sound/PIAS Records and is called
HurricaneHurricane is the tenth studio album by singer Grace Jones and her first album of new material in nineteen years.-Album information:Producer Ivor Guest confirmed in September 2008 that Jones had completed recording her new album...
, with Jones touring the UK and headlining the
Secret Garden PartyThe Secret Garden Party is an independent arts and music festival which takes place every year in an estate near Cambridge, England. Part of the grounds of a Georgian farm house, the location has its own lake, river and landscaped gardens....
from July 24–27, 2008, to promote the album's release. She also made a guest appearance and performance in 2008 at the
BestivalThe Bestival is a three-day music festival held at Robin Hill country park on the Isle of Wight, England.-Origins:The festival has been held annually in late summer since 2004, in a small country park called 'Robin Hill'. The event is organized by BBC Radio 1 leftfield DJ Rob da Bank and is an...
(Isle of Wight) as well as
Electric PicnicElectric Picnic is an annual boutique arts-and-music festival which has been staged since 2004 in Stradbally Hall, Stradbally, County Laois in the Republic of Ireland...
(Ireland). She played the
Sydney FestivalSydney Festival is Australia's largest and most attended annual cultural event running every January since it was first held in 1977. Its program features more than 50 events including classical and contemporary music, dance, circus, drama, visual arts and public lectures...
in January 2009, headlining the Festival First Night free concert in Hyde Park with an audience of over 80,000 people.
Jones may release the "lost" album "Black Marilyn" independently in 2009, along with a compilation of tracks recorded between "Bulletproof Heart" and "Hurricane".
New remastered editions of "Portfolio", "Muse", and "Fame" are set to be released in 2009. This will mark the first time "Muse" has been commercially available on CD. Also on the way is a 2 CD Deluxe Edition of "Nightclubbing" from Island Records to coincide with the record labels 50th Anniversary.
Jones recently performed on
Friday Night With Jonathan RossFriday Night with Jonathan Ross is a comical chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It is on the British terrestrial TV channel BBC One and is broadcast at 10.35pm on Friday nights. It was first shown on 2 November 2001 and is in it's seventeenth series...
and performed "Love You to Life".
On 9 August 2009 Jones performed a full set at 'Space' - a nightclub on Ibiza island, Spain.
Grace Jones collaborated with the avant-garde
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Brigitte FontaineBrigitte Fontaine, born in 1939 in Morlaix in the Brittany region of France, is a singer of avant-garde music. During the course of her career she has employed numerous unusual musical styles, melding rock and roll, folk, jazz, electronica, spoken word poetry and world rhythms...
in a duet named " Soufi " from Fontaine's latest work programmed for a release in the fall of 2009.
Film career
In the 1973 film
Gordon's WarGordon's War is a 1973 action film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis. It stars Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson.-Synopsis:...
, Jones played the role of Mary, a Harlem drug courier. In 1978 she appeared with
Amanda LearAmanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
and
Patty PravoPatty Pravo - Italian pop singer.- Biography :Strambelli studied at the conservatory institute of Benedetto Marcello and had an acquaintance of the American poet Ezra Pound and Angelo Roncalli...
in highly controversial Italian TV series
Stryx- General information :Stryx thematically refered to Hell, devils and underworld. The scenography featured elements resembling Middle Ages-like gloomy castles and caves....
. Jones's work as an actress in mainstream film began with the role of Zula, the Amazon, in the 1984 film
Conan the DestroyerConan the Destroyer is a 1984 film directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer . It is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard , along with a new cast, such as Grace Jones as Zula...
alongside
Arnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian American bodybuilder, actor, businessman, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the state of California....
and
NBAThe National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
legend
Wilt ChamberlainWilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain , nicknamed Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, and Chairman of the Boards, was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; and also played for the Harlem Globetrotters...
. She next landed the role of May Day in the 1985
James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
movie
A View to a KillA View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the third Bond film after The Spy Who Loved Me...
. She also appeared in a short music video "Hey Baby" from the band Hansel to Home in 1986.
Jones appeared in a number of other motion pictures including the 1986 vampire film
VampVamp is a 1986 vampire film starring Grace Jones. It is similar in premise to a film made 10 years later, From Dusk Till Dawn in that a group of people end up in a nightclub run by vampires where they have to fight for survival...
(in which she used her Keith Haring body paint as part of her role as a vampiric exotic dancer) and the 1992
Eddie MurphyEdward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, comedian and singer. He is the second-highest grossing actor in motion picture history. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984, and has worked as a stand-up comedian...
film
Boomerang (in which she played eccentric supermodel Helen Strangé), for which she recorded the song "
7 Day Weekend"7 Day Weekend" is a song recorded by Grace Jones in 1992 for the soundtrack for the Eddie Murphy movie Boomerang, in which Jones played the character Helen Strangé....
." In 2001, she appeared alongside Tim Curry in
Wolf GirlWolf Girl is a 2001 Canadian/American horror thriller about a girl who travels with a freak show because of her rare genetic disorder, hypertrichosis.-Plot:...
(also known as
Blood Moon), as a transvestite circus freakshow performer named Christoph/Christine. She also appeared in an episode of the
BeastmasterBeastMaster is a Canadian television series that aired from 1999 to 2002. It was loosely based on a 1982 MGM movie. The series aired for three complete seasons ....
television series as the Impatra Warrior.
Awards and nominations
Jones is a three-time
Saturn AwardThe Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
nominee, a Grammy nominee, a Razzie Award nominee, and a
Q AwardsThe Q Awards are the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine Q. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards have become one of Britain's biggest and best publicized music awards, helped in no small part by the often boisterous behavior of the celebrities who attend the event.Perhaps the most...
Winner. Jones also ranked 82 on
VH1VH1 is an American cable television network based in New York City...
's '100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll' .
Saturn Awards
- 1985 – Best Supporting Actress for Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 film directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer . It is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard , along with a new cast, such as Grace Jones as Zula...
: Nomination
- 1986 – Best Supporting Actress for A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the third Bond film after The Spy Who Loved Me...
: Nomination
- 1987 – Best Supporting Actress for Vamp
Vamp is a 1986 vampire film starring Grace Jones. It is similar in premise to a film made 10 years later, From Dusk Till Dawn in that a group of people end up in a nightclub run by vampires where they have to fight for survival...
: Nomination
Grammy Awards
- 1984 – Best Long Form Music Video for her A One Man Show
A One Man Show is a music documentary featuring American singer Grace Jones, filmed in 1981-1982. The film was first released in 1982 to promote the album Living My Life and was re-issued on VHS and laserdisc by Island Records, PolyGram and Spectrum Music through the 1980s and early 1990s...
: Nomination
MTV Video Music Award
- 1986 – Best Female Video for "Slave to the Rhythm": Nomination
Razzi Awards
- 1987 – Worst Supporting Actress for Siesta
Siesta is a 1987 film directed by Mary Lambert, and starring Ellen Barkin and Jodie Foster. The screenplay was written by Patricia Louisianna Knop, based on a novel by Patrice Chaplin. The film was released by Lorimar Motion Pictures and debuted in New York City on November 11, 1987. The film's...
: Nomination
Q Music Award
- 2008 – Idol award: Winner
Controversies
In 1981, Jones slapped chat show host
Russell HartyRussell Harty was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat shows.Born Frederick Russell Harty in Blackburn, Lancashire, he was the son of a fruit and vegetable stallholder on the local market...
across the face live on air after he turned to interview other guests and she felt she was being ignored. This topped a 2006
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
poll of the most-shocking British TV chat show moments.
In April 2005, Jones was accused of verbally abusing a
EurostarEurostar is a high-speed railway passenger service connecting London with Paris and Brussels. All its trains cross under the English Channel via the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, owned and operated separately by Eurotunnel....
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 was mistreated.
In November 2006, Jones was criticized for her behavior at a Delta Airlines party. Witnesses claimed that, at one stage, she removed items of clothing, claiming to be "Queen Bitch Jungle Mother of New York." Her publicist later denied the claims as "ridiculous."
Studio albums
- Portfolio (1977)
- Fame
Fame is the second studio album by Grace Jones. It was released in 1978. Just like on her debut album, Portfolio, side A is a continuous Tom Moulton-disco medley, with a total running time of 18:47...
(1978)
- Muse (1979)
- Warm Leatherette
Warm Leatherette is the fourth studio album by Grace Jones. Released in 1980, Warm Leatherette was the first of three albums produced by Chris Blackwell at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas...
(1980)
- Nightclubbing
Nightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1981. It is the second of three post-disco albums that Jones made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and became Jones' commercial breakthrough and also formed the basis of her groundbreaking concept tour A One Man Show...
(1981)
- Living My Life
Living My Life is an album by Grace Jones released in 1982. It was the last of three albums she recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas...
(1982)
- Slave to the Rhythm
Slave to the Rhythm is an album by Grace Jones. It was produced by Trevor Horn and released in 1985. The album was written by Bruce Woolley, Simon Darlow, Stephen Lipson and Trevor Horn...
(1985)
- Inside Story
Inside Story is Grace Jones's eighth studio album, and her first with the Manhattan Records label. It was also her first time working with producer Nile Rodgers...
(1986)
- Bulletproof Heart
Bulletproof Heart is the ninth studio album by Grace Jones and was released in 1989. Singles from the album were "Love on Top of Love" and "Amado Mio"...
(1989)
- Hurricane
Hurricane is the tenth studio album by singer Grace Jones and her first album of new material in nineteen years.-Album information:Producer Ivor Guest confirmed in September 2008 that Jones had completed recording her new album...
(2008)
Filmography
- Gordon's War
Gordon's War is a 1973 action film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis. It stars Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson.-Synopsis:...
(1973)
- Let's Make a Dirty Movie (1976)
- Colt 38 Special Squad (1976)
- Army of Lovers or Revolution of the Perverts (1979) (documentary)
- Deadly Vengeance (1981)
- Made in France (1984) (documentary)
- Conan the Destroyer
Conan the Destroyer is a 1984 film directed by action/fantasy veteran Richard Fleischer . It is a sequel to Conan the Barbarian, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mako returning to resume their roles as Conan and Akiro the wizard , along with a new cast, such as Grace Jones as Zula...
(1984)
- A View to a Kill
A View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the third Bond film after The Spy Who Loved Me...
(1985)
- Vamp
Vamp is a 1986 vampire film starring Grace Jones. It is similar in premise to a film made 10 years later, From Dusk Till Dawn in that a group of people end up in a nightclub run by vampires where they have to fight for survival...
(1986)
- Straight to Hell (1987)
- Siesta
Siesta is a 1987 film directed by Mary Lambert, and starring Ellen Barkin and Jodie Foster. The screenplay was written by Patricia Louisianna Knop, based on a novel by Patrice Chaplin. The film was released by Lorimar Motion Pictures and debuted in New York City on November 11, 1987. The film's...
(1987)
- Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol (1990) (documentary)
- Boomerang (1992)
- Cyber Bandits (1995)
- McCinsey's Island (1998)
- Palmer's Pick Up (1999)
- No Place Like Home (2006)
- Falco – Damn, We Still Live! (2008)
- Chelsea On The Rocks (2008)
Television work
- Stryx
- General information :Stryx thematically refered to Hell, devils and underworld. The scenography featured elements resembling Middle Ages-like gloomy castles and caves....
(1978)
- A One Man Show
A One Man Show is a music documentary featuring American singer Grace Jones, filmed in 1981-1982. The film was first released in 1982 to promote the album Living My Life and was re-issued on VHS and laserdisc by Island Records, PolyGram and Spectrum Music through the 1980s and early 1990s...
(1982)
- Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
- Beastmaster
BeastMaster is a Canadian television series that aired from 1999 to 2002. It was loosely based on a 1982 MGM movie. The series aired for three complete seasons ....
(1999)
- Wolf Girl
Wolf Girl is a 2001 Canadian/American horror thriller about a girl who travels with a freak show because of her rare genetic disorder, hypertrichosis.-Plot:...
(2001)
- Shaka Zulu: The Citadel (2001)
Appearances in popular culture
- Chicago electronic duo Microfilm mentions Grace Jones in lyrics to their 2007 song "Paris." The lyrics "Tour Eiffel/You wear it well/Like Grace Jones/I think I fell...for you" refer to Jones's role in the Bond film A View to a Kill, where her character parachutes off the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a 19th century iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in...
.
- On the reality TV series America's Next Top Model
America's Next Top Model is a reality television show in which a number of women compete for the title of America's Next Top Model and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry.The show was created and is hosted by talk-show host and former model Tyra Banks, who also serves as the...
, cycle 2, the models dressed as famous celebrities for a photo shoot. Jones was one of them, modeled by Xiomara Frans.
- On the reality TV series Australia's Next Top Model
Australia's Next Top Model is an Australian reality television series based on the American series of the same name, which was created and co-produced by Tyra Banks. The series, which first premiered on January 11, 2005, is produced by Granada Productions and broadcast on the Australian...
, cycle 5, the models dressed as famous celebrities for a photo shoot. Jones was one of them, modeled by Franky Okpara.
- Spitting Image
Spitting Image was a British satirical puppet show which ran on the ITV television network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one, for editing, in 1989....
parodied Grace Jones in music video, portraying her as unsubtly post-modernist and pretentious (In is a kind of out. Sure is a kind of doubt. Goldfish is a kind of trout. Garbage is what this song's about...)
- On the sketch comedy TV show In Living Color
In Living Color was an American sketch comedy television series, which originally ran on the Fox Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. Brothers Keenen and Damon Wayans created, wrote, and starred in the program. The show was produced by Ivory Way Productions in association with 20th Century...
, Kim WayansKim Wayans is an American actress, comedian, producer, writer and director. She is also a member of the Wayans family.-Early life:...
regularly parodied Grace Jones as an extremely physical enthusiast of any activity, whether it be fighting an alligator for her dinner or pro wrestling, while regularly asking "Do you find me sexy?".
- In the early 1980s, Jones appeared in an advertising campaign for Honda
is a Japanese multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles. Honda is the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume. Honda surpassed Nissan in 2001 to become...
's new line of motor scooters, which had become fashionable at the time. Jones persuaded rock star Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
(who, prior to the ad campaign, had never driven in his life) to try it. The commercial ends with Jones biting Ant on the ear, which was edited out for airings in the U.S., but was left intact when it aired elsewhere.
- Spanish 80's pop band Mecano makes a comment on Grace Jones' Hair-do on their song "Stereo-Sexual"
- In late-2007, Neo soul
Neo soul is a sub-genre of contemporary R&B. The main difference between neo soul and the more popular sub-genres of R&B is that it is the most ethnocentric type of R&B. Neo soul artists tend to be very well-informed on world culture and politics, as well as spiritual discussions...
artist Erykah BaduErica Abi Wright , better known by her stage name Erykah Badu, is a multiple Grammy-winner, African-American soul singer and songwriter, whose work includes elements from R&B, hip hop and jazz. She is best known for her role in the rise of the neo soul sub-genre, and for her eccentric, cerebral...
parodied Jones' NightclubbingNightclubbing is the fifth studio album by Grace Jones, released in 1981. It is the second of three post-disco albums that Jones made at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and became Jones' commercial breakthrough and also formed the basis of her groundbreaking concept tour A One Man Show...
album in her "Honey" music video.
See also
External links