Grace Jones
Grace Jones was one of the more unforgettable characters to emerge from New York City's hedonistic Studio 54 disco sceneduring the late'70s. Born
May 19, 1952, in Kingston, Jamaica, Jones studied theater at Syracuse University before launching acareer as a model. Jones'statuesque and
flamboyant look proved to be a hit in the New York City nightclub scene, which led to arecording contract with Island Recordsin 1977. While such
disco-based albums as 1977's Portfolio, 1978's Fame, and 1979'sMuse failed to break the singer commercially, Jonessoon amassed a substantial
following amongst gay ...read more
Grace Jones was one of the more unforgettable characters to emerge from New York City's hedonistic Studio 54 disco sceneduring the late'70s. Born
May 19, 1952, in Kingston, Jamaica, Jones studied theater at Syracuse University before launching acareer as a model. Jones'statuesque and
flamboyant look proved to be a hit in the New York City nightclub scene, which led to arecording contract with Island Recordsin 1977. While such
disco-based albums as 1977's Portfolio, 1978's Fame, and 1979'sMuse failed to break the singer commercially, Jonessoon amassed a substantial
following amongst gay men with her sexuallycharged live show, leading to her title at the time of "Queen of theGay Discos."
But with the dawn of the '80s came a massive anti-disco movement across the U.S., leading to Jones focusing on more new waveandexperimental-
based work resulting in two of her best-known and strongest releases -- 1980's Warm Leatherette and 1981'sNightclubbing --both produced by the
noted reggae team of Sly & Robbie (the latter release spawned one of Jones' biggest hits,"Pull Up to the Bumper," aswell as covers of Iggy Pop's
"Nightclubbing" and the Police's "Demolition Man"). It was also aroundthis time that Jones changed her look tosuit the times by replacing her S&M look
of the '70s with a detached, androgynousimage. Jones' sixth solo release overall, Living My Life,followed in 1982, while the singer took a break from
recording to focus onfilm work and landed roles in such movies as Conan the Destroyerand the James Bond flick A View to a Kill (Jones' romantic
lifealso provided tabloid fodder at the time when she was linked with Rocky IVstar Dolph Lundgren).
Jones eventually returned back to her recording career, enlisting super-producer Trevor Horn (Frankie Goes to Hollywood) tooversee 1985'sSlave to
the Rhythm, which turned out to be a somewhat autobiographical work (the same year, a ten-trackcompilation was issued as well,Island Life). Jones'
penchant for working with big-name producers continued on 1986's InsideStory; with production chores handled by Chic'sNile Rodgers, the album
spawned one of Jones' last successful singles, "I'm NotPerfect (But I'm Perfect for You)." After 1989's BulletproofHeart, Jones seemed to turn her back
on her recording career(although 1993 saw the release of a new single, "Sex Drive"), as she againfocused primarily on movies, including a role in
EddieMurphy's hit 1992 comedy Boomerang. The double-disc set Private Life: The CompassPoint Sessions (a collection of 26 tracksthat Jones recorded
with Sly & Robbie during their early '80s union) was released in 1998, which wasfollowed up four years laterwith Island Life, Vol. 2. « hide |
