State Of Grace

A fortnight after her appearance at Electric Picnic, the redoubtable Grace Jones will publish her memoir, cheekily titled I’ll Never Write My Memoirs. The contrarian title is taken from the opening line of her song ‘Art Groupie’: “I’ll never write my memoirs/ There’s nothing in my book/ The only way you see me, an art groupie/ I’m hooked.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, the book will cover “her life from rooming with Jerry Hall to collaborating with Andy Warhol to appearing opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger”.
With so many wild showbiz tales to tell, the 67-year-old Jamaican would probably be just as at home on Marty Mulligan’s The Word stage in Mindfield. However, despite her long held status as a fashion icon and indie actress (movie credits include Conan The Destroyer, Straight To Hell and a memorably scary turn in the Bond flick A View To A Kill), it’s undoubtedly music that has made her the most famous.
She’ll be wearing her performer’s hat on the main stage at Stradbally. Or, more likely, hats. When Jones made her flamboyant Irish debut at HQ back in 1999 – she opened the now defunct Abbey Street venue with a three-night string of shows – she changed her costume between every single song. Strangely, it didn’t really slow the flow.
Her dedication to fashion is hardly surprising given that she started her career as a model, her formidably androgynous looks earning her the covers of such prestigious magazines as Elle, Vogue and Stern. Music came soon after. Although she originally signed to Island Records as a disco act in 1977, things really only kicked off for her in the '80s when she became a new-wave star on the back of hit singles such as ‘Pull Up To The Bumper’, ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before’ and ‘’I’m Not Perfect’. Even today, no decent record collection is truly complete without a copy of at least one of her now-classic albums, Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981) and Slave To The Rhythm (1985).
Often backed by legendary Jamaican rhythm duo Sly and Robbie, her pioneering music during the early ‘80s was described as a hybrid of “rock, funk, post-punk, pop and reggae.” She has been acknowledged as a major influence by the likes of Massive Attack, Gorillaz, Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem and Roisin Murphy. However, when Lady Gaga asked to collaborate with her recently, Jones swiftly knocked her back.
She’s well known for her steely personality (Arnie himself complained that she was “too strict” on the set of their Conan movie) and controversial moments (memorably, she once slapped Russell Harty during a live TV interview). She has a lifetime ban from Walt Disney World in Florida following an incident in which she exposed her breasts during a live show there.
Following a long hiatus from music, she put out a well-received reggae/pop album, Hurricane, in 2008. Even if she performs nothing from that release, she’s sure to have the Electric Picnic crowd eating out of the palm of her hand.
And if we can somehow convince her to join us in the Hot Press Chatroom beforehand, expect sparks to fly...