Legendary Bands - Grace Slick Posters

Grace Slick, to the public mind, is synonymous with Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship in the way that Mick Jagger is synonymous with the Rolling Stones. Ironically, Grace was not an original member of the band, nor was she with Starship at the very end. But Grace's importance to every phase of the band cannot be underestimated. White Rabbit, which she wrote, helped define not only Jefferson Airplane but also the acid rock era. Her unconventional vocals on Somebody to Love gave the Airplane its biggest hit. As one of the first female rock stars (as opposed to pop singers), Grace helped redefine women's role in modern music as more than just a sex symbol backed by a band. Of course, with her statuesque beauty and icy blue eyes, Grace had the sex symbol bit down pat as well.

Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in Evanston, a suburb of Chicago, IL. Her father, Ivan, was an investment banker, and her mother, Virginia Barnett Wing, had been an actress and singer in the early '30s. On her father's side, Grace reportedly is descended from U.S. Vice President (1857-61) John C. Breckinridge. Her lineage also goes back to Norway, where the family name of Wing was Venia.

When Grace was three, the family moved to Los Angeles, and then in 1945 to San Francisco, where her brother Chris was born in 1949. Grace grew up in affluent surroundings and freely indulged her love of fantasy; an early role model was Betty Grable. The only downside that Grace would later express about her childhood was that her father drank and could only open up when "loaded."

Grace attended Finch College, a prestigious finishing school for girls, in New York (1957-58), before transferring to the University of Miami (1958-59), where she majored in art. She tried her hand at various odd jobs and even auditioned as a singer at a black record label. But although she modeled for I. Magnin's department store from 1960-63, Grace later said she had no ambitions beyond being a housewife. On August 26, 1961, she married Gerald "Jerry" Slick, a film student and later a successful cinematographer. She later described the marriage as passionless and the result of "cultural imposition." But it was during this marriage that she wrote her first song -- a piece for one of Jerry's film projects.

In August 1965, Grace read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about a new band called Jefferson Airplane. A week later, she and Jerry checked out the band at the Matrix Club. Deciding that being in a rock band looked like a lot of fun and paid better than modeling, Grace soon formed her own band, the Great Society. Jerry was roped in, somewhat reluctantly, as drummer, and his brother Darby Slick joined on guitar. With the lineup completed by David Minor (guitar/vocals), Peter van Gelder (sax/bass) and, briefly, Bard DuPont (bass), the Great Society made its debut at the Coffee Gallery in North Beach, CA on September 22, 1965.

Despite her rather late entry into rock 'n' roll, Grace proved herself a talented singer. Lacking any formal musical training whatsoever, she attempted to imitate the sound of an electric guitar and developed a unique and forceful singing style. She also discovered a knack for writing songs -- White Rabbit was one of her first compositions.

Grace has always said that White Rabbit was intended as a slap toward parents who read their children stories such as Alice in Wonderland (in which Alice uses several drug-like substances in order to change herself) and then wondered why their children grew up to do drugs. For Grace and others in the '60s, drugs were an inevitable part of mind-expanding and social experimentation. With its enigmatic lyrics, White Rabbit became one of the first songs to sneak drug references past censors on the radio. Even Marty Balin, Grace's eventual rival in the Airplane, regarded the song as a "masterpiece."

The Great Society attracted attention as much for its ineptness as for its originality. In 1966, one Sylvester Stewart (the future Sly of Sly and the Family Stone) walked out as producer of a demo after it took the band 50 takes to get one song right. However, Grace's talent carried the band, and they found themselves opening for Jefferson Airplane and other successful, local bands. Columbia records even offered the Great Society a recording contract (and would release two albums by the band after Grace found fame), but, by the time the contract arrived in the mail, the Great Society was no more.

In September 1966, the Airplane put bassist Jack Casady up to asking Grace if she might be interested in joining them. For Grace, it was a no-brainer; the Airplane had already released an album and seemed on the verge of a major breakthrough. After discussing the matter with her husband (one of the last times, it seems, that Grace would take his opinion into consideration), she accepted the Airplane's offer. Bill Thompson, then the Airplane's road manager, would buy out Grace's contract from her manager for the paltry sum of $750.

On October 14, Grace watched in the wings at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco for what was to be the last show of her predecessor, Signe Anderson. But Signe never showed up. The Airplane prevailed upon Grace to do the show. Grace would later recall that she was "scared shitless" -- she barely knew the words, but it didn't matter, for the Airplane played far louder than she expected.

After such an inauspicious debut, Grace barely had time to get comfortable with the Airplane before the band went to Los Angeles to record its second album. Grace, as a newcomer, merely sang over Signe's parts on most of Surrealistic Pillow, but she did contribute two stand-out cuts from the Great Society -- White Rabbit and Darby Slick's Somebody to Love. Though the Airplane recognized those songs as special, even they had little inkling as to how popular they would become. Nine months after she joined the band, Grace found herself a star as the lead singer of the band's two top ten hits.

Grace Slick quickly emerged as an icon of the psychedelic scene that followed. She always downplayed her own significance in the press, suggesting that she got the most attention because she was the only woman in the band. But such comments disregard Grace's obvious talents and extroverted personality. She would literally say and do anything. While appearing on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in 1968, she wore blackface and raised her fist in a Black Panther salute. During one rainy outdoors concert, she performed topless rather than getting her blouse wet. On another occasion, she drunkenly referred to a wealthy audience as "filthy jewels" (a comment misheard by some as "filthy Jews"). In her autobiography, Grace said she learned "how to let it out and damn the censorship" from Mick Jagger. Unfortunately, much of her behavior was also attributed to her increasing addiction to alcohol.

Alcohol was only one of the many addictions available to her. Drugs were certainly in abundance, and so was sex. By early 1967, Grace's marriage to Jerry was all but over, though they didn't divorce until 1971. She had a brief dalliance with Jack Casady, then began a two-year affair with Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden. Grace felt an immediate connection with Spencer, since they were both initially "outsiders." Once Grace became famous, however, Spencer would use their relationship to get his way within the band. Grace later told VH-1 that she was not aware of the "power struggles" going on within the band on her behalf.

In 1968, however, Grace did briefly consider leaving the Airplane, when she and Spencer met with David Anderle of Elektra Records to discuss her going solo. But Grace preferred putting music above the "star trip" that Elektra had in mind and remained with the band.

With the Airplane, Grace apparently regarded herself as an equal among equals who could write anything she damn well pleased. Her songs were psychedelic interpretations of literary classics (Rejoyce, 1967), attacked middle class repression (Greasy Heart, 1968), and assaulted human arrogance (Eskimo Blue Day -- noted for the line, "the human name doesn't mean shit to a tree" -- 1969). On the occasion of Spencer's 30th birthday, she wrote Lather (1968), a song expressing the anxieties of growing older -- a theme she would revisit on several occasions.

By 1969, her relationship with Spencer had ended, and she soon became involved with Paul Kantner. Though they never married, Grace decided that she wanted to have Paul's child. Their daughter, China, was born on January 25, 1971. (In typical Grace fashion, she initially told the press that she was going to name the child "god.")

One of Grace's oddest and most famous incidents occurred shortly before her pregnancy. In April 1970, the former Finch College student was invited to a reception hosted by President Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia, at the White House. The organizers of the affair apparently had little idea who Grace was, or of her opinion of Nixon. (Her song, Mexico, a scathing critique of Nixon's anti-drug policy, had only just been released as a single.) Upon arrival, however, Grace was barred from entering when she brought a "bodyguard" -- '60s radical Abbie Hoffman! Grace later said that, had they been allowed in, they had planned to spike Nixon's tea with LSD, so that the president would "see the truth."

But as the Airplane began to disintegrate in the early '70s, Grace coped with it and the pressures of motherhood by drinking. On May 13, 1971, a mere four months after becoming a mother, Grace was involved in a near-fatal drunk driving accident. After an all-night recording session, she and Jorma drag-raced their sports cars on the Golden Gate Bridge. Grace lost control and crashed into a retaining wall. Miraculously, she escaped with only serious concussions.

Grace's behavior became more extreme, and the remote Paul proved ill-equipped to deal with her outbursts. She often called him a "Nazi" for his rigid control over the group, and, on one occasion, she berated an audience for demanding that she sing White Rabbit. In August 1972, she and Paul were both arrested during an altercation with police following a concert. According to Grace, she had wandered on stage without her glasses during an argument between the police and the band's road manager. Seeking to steady herself, she grabbed onto a policeman's uniform. He responded by macing her. Paul rushed to Grace's defense and was shoved to the floor by police.

Within two months, however, the Airplane was permanently grounded. Grace took the loss of her musical family hard. Although she had begun work on a solo album, she lost interest in it and allowed Paul and David Freiberg to complete it. The album was released as Manhole in 1974.

Early that year, Grace agreed to form a new band with Paul, Jefferson Starship. Her contributions to the first album, Dragon Fly, included Hyperdrive, a sobering reflection of life at age 35: "I didn't know there were corners in time till I was told to stand in one."

A year later, Jefferson Starship broke big with Marty Balin's romantic hit, Miracles. Grace attempted to fit into the band's new pop sound -- she wrote (with Pete Sears) the follow-up single, Play on Love -- but her heart wasn't in it. She regarded the Starship's commercial direction as selling out, and as her unhappiness with the group increased, so too did her drinking. To Marty's consternation, Grace continued to command the public's attention, albeit in the form of controversial behavior. In 1978, Grace was dragged off the stage of a local San Francisco game show after abusing contestants.

In the meantime, Grace had found a new love in the form of lighting director Skip Johnson. They began having an affair during the Starship's first tour. Finally, Grace ended her relationship with Paul and, on November 29, 1976, she married Skip in Hawaii. Neither Paul nor Marty attended.

With Skip's encouragement, Grace attempted to sober up. But in 1978, as the band hit the road in Europe, Grace became ill, due either to drinking (according to the group) or illness (according to her). On June 17, the band was scheduled to appear at the Lorelei Festival in Germany, but Grace, acting on her doctor's advice, declined to perform. The rest of the band considered playing without her but ultimately canceled the show. The fans then rioted, causing a million dollars worth of damage and destroying the band's stage and equipment.

The next day, the band taped a show for German TV, but Grace's clearly inebriated performance proved to be an embarrassment. She berated the audience over starting World War II and tried to shove her fingers up a fan's nostrils. The tape of the performance was not aired until 20 years later on VH-1's Behind the Music.

Clearly unable to continue, Grace "fired" herself from the band.

Grace then enrolled in an alcohol treatment program and spent six months "playing housewife." She then released her second solo album, Dreams (1980), a well-received and more mature effort, albeit one she was never entirely comfortable with. Her third album, Welcome the Wrecking Ball (1981) veered off into a punk rock direction.

Despite the promising start of a solo career, Grace didn't like the isolation of working alone. She accepted Paul's offer to contribute guest vocals to the Starship's Modern Times, and found herself liking the band's new, hard rock sound. In February 1981, she rejoined the band.

Grace willingly accepted a subordinate role to Mickey Thomas, who sang lead on the hit singles. Furthermore, she now tried a new tack in being a rock star -- sobriety and responsibility. Unfortunately, Grace could not slow the band's descent into mediocrity nor stop the rift between Paul and the others. When Paul left the band in 1984, Grace opted to continue with the Starship. Paul sued her and the rest over ownership of the name Jefferson Starship, creating a serious rift in their personal relationship.

Grace remained with the truncated Starship as it went on to achieve its greatest success with three number one hits, We Built this City (1985), Sara (1986), and Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (1987). But Grace doesn't appear to have enjoyed this run at the top; rather, she felt distanced by the band's blatant commercialism as well as Mickey's subtle hints that he'd be happier as the sole vocalist. Furthermore, Grace was becoming more aware of her age -- at 47, she set a record for the oldest woman to appear on a number one hit, but Grace seemed embarrassed at being a "middle-aged person on a rock-and-roll stage," as she described herself in her autobiography. The 10 to 15-year age difference between her and her band mates did little to dispel her doubts.

When Grace's health intervened in the form of bilateral capsulitis ("frozen shoulder"), requiring six months of rest, she finally decided to leave the band. Her departure in February 1988 left Starship without any links to Jefferson Airplane.

As she healed in body, Grace also slowly began to heal her rift with Paul. On March 4, 1988, she guested with him, Jorma, and Jack at a Hot Tuna concert. Then, in 1989, the four of them and Marty reformed as Jefferson Airplane. Grace's contributions to Jefferson Airplane continue to reflect her thoughts about growing older/growing up (Freedom), as well as her more recent commitment to animal rights (Panda).

The end of the reunion tour coincided with Grace's 50th birthday, and, perhaps not coincidently, she decided to break with her past and retire from music. Despite offers to the contrary, Grace continues to live a quiet life, refusing to return to the career that made her famous. In a comment to VH-1 in 1998, she adamantly maintained, "I don't like old people on a rock and roll stage -- me included."

Nevertheless, Grace has returned to help Jefferson Starship -- The Next Generation on two occasions. The first was during a memorial concert for the late Papa John Creech (captured on Deep Space/Virgin Sky, 1995). The second occasion was to contribute guest vocals to JSTNG's Windows of Heaven (1999). She was also coaxed into duetting with ex-4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry on Perry's In Flight (1996); the song, Knock Me Out, also turned up on the soundtrack of The Crow: City of Angels.

Grace's personal life has also continued to attract occasional public notice. On September 16, 1993, her Marin County home was destroyed by fire caused by careless county workers. Around this time, her 18-year marriage to Skip Johnson ended. Then, in March 1994, Grace was arrested at her home for pointing an unloaded shotgun at police officers who responded to a disturbance caused by her then-boyfriend. The incident, which uncannily resembled the lyrics to Grace's 1971 song, Lawman, resulted in her being sentenced to probation.

Over the years, Grace has been the subject of two biographies. The first, written by Barbara Rowes, was published in 1980. The second, Grace's own Somebody to Love? A Rock and Roll Memoir, co-authored with Andrea Cagan, appeared in September 1998.

In the years since her retirement, Grace has turned to another creative endeavor -- painting. Her works include portraits of old friends such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jerry Garcia. As of November 2000, she had sold about 60 paintings, priced from $1,100 to $8,700. Although her work has hardly garnered the respect of critics (so what else is new?), others laud her paintings for evoking feeling, something hard for any artist to do. For Grace, whose shoulder-length hair is now completely white (she had been dyeing it since her mid-20s), it's a chance to create something that doesn't involve her appearance, according to an article by Kim Curtis.

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