Grace Slick | Artist
Grace Barnett Wing aka Grace Slick is an American musician and painter born 1939 in Highland Park, Illinois. Her musical career spanned four decades and she was a prominent figure in San Francisco's psychedelic music scene during the mid-1960s to early 1970s. Initially performing with the Great Society, Slick achieved fame as the lead singer and front woman of Jefferson Airplane and the subsequent spinoff bands Jefferson Starship and Starship. After high school Slick attended Finch College in NYC for two years, then University of Miami for two years. Later she worked as a model at an I. Magnin department store for three years. She also started composing music, including a theme to a short film for her husband, Jerry Slick, who was a film cinematographer and director. The couple were married in 1961 and divorced in 1971. Inspired after seeing the early Jefferson Airplane perform with their original singer Signe Anderson, Grace, husband Jerry, Jerry's brother Darby, and David Miner formed a group called the Great Society. Grace composed the psychedelic piece "White Rabbit" based on the hallucinogenic effects of psychedelic drugs. They became a popular attraction in the Bay Area, releasing singles "Someone to Love" and "Sally go Round the Roses", plus two live albums. In late 1966, Signe Anderson left Jefferson Airplane to raise her child, and bassist Jack Cassidy asked Grace to join. With Slick on board, Jefferson Airplane began recording new music, moving in a more psychedelic direction from their former folk-rock style. Their second album, the first to feature Slick, Surrealistic Pillow included new recordings of "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", both of which became top 10 singles. Jefferson Airplane became one of the most popular bands in the US and earned a position for Slick as one of the most prominent female rock musicians of her time. After Jack Cassidy and Jorma Kaukonen left Jefferson Airplane to form Hot Tuna Slick formed Jefferson Starship with Paul Kantner and other bandmates. She also released four solo albums, of which Manhole and Dreams are standouts. Slick was nicknamed "The Chrome Nun" by David Crosby, and she used this title in her 1973 collaboration with Kantner Baron von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun. Grace Slick and fellow musician and counter-culture heroine Janis Joplin were close friends right up until Joplin's death from a drug overdose in 1970. Slick herself has publicly acknowledged her alcoholism and use of drugs including LSD (for which she got the nickname The Acid Queen) and marijuana. She has discussed this and her rehabilitation experiences in her autobiography. One anecdote about Slick's wild days involves her invitation to a White House tea party by President Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia, who attended Finch college with Grace. Slick invited anarchist Abbie Hoffman to accompany her and the two planned to spike President Nixon's tea with LSD. However Hoffman was kicked out by security guards before carrying out the deed. Grace Slick retired from music in 1990, but continues to be active in visual arts. In 1996 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Jefferson Airplane. Famous as one of the earliest female rock stars, Grace Slick is an important figure in the development of rock music in the late 1960s. Her distinctive vocal style and striking stage presence exerted influence on many other female performers.
Artist Website: graceslick.com
Featured Albums: Grace Slick
Related Artists: Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Paul Kantner & Grace Slick, The Great Society, Hot Tuna, Jorma Kaukonen
Collections: Women of Note
