Grace Slick

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Grace Slick
Background information <tr><td>Birth name</td><td colspan="2">Grace Barnett Wing</td></tr><tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">October 30, 1939 Image:Flag of USA.svg Evanston, Illinois, USA</td></tr> <tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Psychedelic Rock Arena rock Hard rock</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation(s)</td><td colspan="2">Singer</td></tr><tr><td>Instrument(s)</td><td colspan="2">Vocals</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">RCA Records</td></tr><tr><td textalign="top" style="padding-right: 1em;">Associated acts</td><td colspan="2">Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Starship</td></tr>

Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing, October 30, 1939 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American singer and songwriter, who was the lead singer of the rock groups Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Starship and also as a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s.

Slick is considered to be one of the most important musicians in bringing the 1960s psychedelic rock to mainstream appeal. She is known for her witty, influential, thought-provoking lyrics, and her powerful contralto voice.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Multiple arrests
4 Retired life
5 Artistic Accomplishments
6 External links

[edit] Early life

Slick was born in Evanston, a Chicago suburb, to Ivan W. Wing (of Norwegian-Swedish extraction) and his wife Virginia Barnett.[1] She attended Castilleja, a private girls school in Palo Alto, California, near San Francisco. Following graduation, she attended two academically-respected institutions, Finch College in New York from 1956 to 1958 and the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida from 1957 to 1959.

Slick maintained a friendship with Janis Joplin that began early in her music career and lasted until Joplin's death by drug overdose on October 4, 1970. She also had a friendship and a brief romantic relationship with Jim Morrison, who died of unknown causes (common explanations include heart failure and drug overdose) on July 3, 1971.

Slick was married twice, to Gerald "Jerry" Slick, a cinematographer, and to Skip Johnson, a Jefferson Starship lighting designer. She has one daughter, China Kantner (born January 25, 1971). China's father is former Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, with whom Grace had a relationship from 1969 through 1975.

[edit] Career

During her musical career, Slick was a member of two rock bands, The Great Society and Jefferson Airplane (and its successor bands, Jefferson Starship and Starship).

Slick was known for her provocative lyrics, but also for her alcoholism and public persona. Notable songs that she recorded with Jefferson Airplane/Starship include "White Rabbit", "Somebody to Love", "We Built This City", "Volunteers", "Lather", and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now". Jefferson Airplane's album, Volunteers, was ranked one of the top 500 albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

Slick's solo albums include Manhole, Dreams, and Welcome to the Wrecking Ball. Dreams, produced by Scott Zito, is thought to be Grace Slick's' finest hour as a vocalist by many critics.

Alongside her close contemporary Janis Joplin, Slick was an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style exerted a definite influence on other female performers, such as Sandy Denny and Dolores O'Riordan. Like Joplin, Slick's uncompromising persona and powerful voice helped to open up new modes of expression for female performers, giving a new legitimacy to the role of the female lead singer in the male-dominated world of rock music.

Jefferson Airplane's August 1969 performance of their song, "Volunteers" at Woodstock is, to this day, considered one of the most memorable songs of the three-day Woodstock festival. With lines such as, "One generation got old / One generation got soul / This generation got no destination to hold, pick up the cry," the song has been interpreted as challenging the youth of the United States to rise up in opposition to their government.

[edit] Multiple arrests

Slick has had numerous run-ins with the law. On four separate occasions, she was arrested for alcohol-related offenses, including driving under the influence and public drunkenness. She was admitted to a substance-abuse rehabilitation facility on at least one occasion[2]. She has also commented publicly on her use of LSD.

She was reportedly arrested in 1994 for assault with a deadly weapon, after pointing an unloaded gun at a police officer,[3] reminiscent of the song "Law Man" on the 1971 Bark album.

[edit] Retired life

Slick left Starship in 1988 at age 48. After retiring in 1989 from the music business, Grace turned her attention to painting. She has done many renditions of mostly her fellow 60s musicians such as Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia as well as many others. In 2000, she began showing and selling her artwork, some pieces going for fairly high prices.

She has generally stayed away from music, although she did sing on one song on the soundtrack to The Crow: City of Angels. The song was a duet with Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes and was called "Knock Me Out".

In a 2001 USA Today article, she said "I'm in good health and people want to know what I do to be this way [...] I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck — the point is I'm vegan [... [4]

She released her autobiography, Grace Slick: Somebody to Love? a Rock and Roll Memoir, in 1998.

[edit] Artistic Accomplishments

Slick's longevity in the music business helped her earn a rather unusual distinction: the oldest female vocalist on a Billboard Hot 100 number one single. "We Built This City" reached #1 on November 16, 1985, less than three weeks after her 46th birthday. The previous record was age 44 for Tina Turner, with 1984's number-one hit, "What's Love Got To Do With It". Turner (who is, coincidentally within a month of Slick's age) turned 45 two months after the song topped the charts. Slick broke her own record in Summer 1987 at age 47 when "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" topped the U.S. charts. Her record stood for 12 years, but was ultimately broken by Cher, who was 53 in 1999 when "Believe" hit number one.

Slick did vocals for Jazzy Spies, a series of animated shorts about the numbers 1 through 10, which aired on Sesame Street. Jazzy Spies #2, for instance, appeared in the first episode of the first season of Sesame Street, November 10, 1969.