Actors - Grace Jones

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	Actors - Grace Jones

Grace Jones (born Grace Mendoza on May 19, 1952, in Spanish Town, Kingston, Jamaica) is a model, singer and actress.

Raised in Syracuse, New York, she found success in the 70s as a model, working in New York and Paris, before rising to public prominence as a singer and personality.

Musical career

Jones secured a record deal with Island Records, which resulted in a string of club hits and attracted a large gay following. The three disco albums she recorded - Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979) - generated dance singles such as "Sorry"/"That's The Trouble," "I Need A Man," and a classic cover of Edith Piaf's "La Vie En Rose." During this period, she also became a muse to Andy Warhol, appearing in his portraits and accompanying him to Studio 54 on many occasions.

As the 70s drew to a close, Jones adapted the emerging New Wave music to suit a different style, a significant departure from her previous output that resulted in some of her strongest work. Still with Island, and now working with producers Alex Sadkin and Chris Blackwell, she released the acclaimed Warm Leatherette (1980) and Nightclubbing (1981). These included re-imaginings of songs by Sting, Iggy Pop, The Pretenders, Roxy Music, Flash And The Pan, The Normal, and Tom Petty, as well as originals like the Billboard Top 20 single "Pull Up To The Bumper" and the haunting "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)." Parallel to her musical shift was an equally dramatic visual departure; Jones - working heavily with style artist Jean-Paul Goude (whom she married and had a son with) - adopted a severe, androgynous look that enhanced her already striking presence, the iconic cover of Nightclubbing exemplifying this new identity. Her collaboration with Sadkin and Blackwell continued with the dub reggae-influenced album Living My Life, which featured "Nipple To The Bottle," "The Apple Stretching," and the Jones-penned and much-sampled "My Jamaican Guy."

Later in the 80s, she worked with Trevor Horn for the conceptual musical collage Slave to the Rhythm (1985), and with Nile Rodgers for Inside Story (1986) - her first album away from the Island label. Inside Story produced her last US Hot 100 hit to date, "I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)," while Bulletproof Heart in 1989 produced the #1 US club hit "Love on Top of Love - Killer Kiss," produced by C+C Music Factory's David Cole and Robert Clivilles. Although she wasn't a mainstream recording artist, much of her musical output became hits on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Chart and many are regarded as classics to this day.

Grace Jones was dressing as a man in many of her shows and on her album covers in the 1970's, which would go on to influence artists like Annie Lennox in the 1980's. She would also exemplify the box haircut style in the 70's, which would be worn by many Black men all over America throughout much of the next decade. She was one of the first recording artists of the early 1980's to use bass as the dominate instrument throughout a songs entirety (not just it's instrumental break) which would later become an industry standard. And at the time, would be one of a few entertainers balancing a recording and acting career simultaneously. Jones is considered by many to have been ahead of her time. Her strong visual presence was extended to her stage work. Her performances were unique spectacles as she adopted various personas and wore outlandish costumes, particularly during her years with Goude. Perhaps her most memorable performance was at the Paradise Garage in 1985, wherein she collaborated with legendary visual artist Keith Haring for her costume.

Film career

Grace Jones' work as an actor first began with the role of Zula, the amazon in the 1984 film Conan the Destroyer
alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. She fit the part perfectly and her performance commanded your attention when she was on-screen. She next landed the role of May Day, in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill
. Jones was regarded by some critics as the best thing about the otherwise-panned film (particularly when May Day surprised Bond by flipping him over in bed during a "love" sequence, insisting on taking the top role. Her film career took her into the mainstream public eye to a great effect, due in part once again to her striking visual presence as well as the fact that she could act. She found steady film work appearing in a number of motion pictures including the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang in 1992. Like "Conan the Destroyer" and "A View To A Kill" before it, she stole the show once again. She also appeared in an episode of the Beastmaster television series as the Impatra Warrior.

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Actors - Grace Jones

Musical career

Film career

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