The last time Grace Jones sponsored a social event in Barcelona, she caused a stir. It was over two decades ago. The writer of these lines witnessed the incident. It was a Saturday, the press waited for almost three hours, with no explanation, and it was finally revealed that the Jamaican diva wanted to be paid in cash, but the banks were closed that day.
Muse of Warhol, gay icon, former Bond girl, and one of the most prominent stars of disco-club music, Jones has made a deal with the devil. At almost 77 years old, she looks so youthful that it seems like she has been reincarnated as that girl who gave her all at the famous Studio 54 in New York. Born in Jamaica, in the city of skyscrapers, she became a character thanks to the invaluable help of Andy Warhol, who portrayed her in about thirty photographs and produced dozens of archive objects related to the black artist.
In her extensive career, she has 12 studio albums, eight compilations, 53 singles, 29 music videos, as well as about twenty films, with A View to a Kill (1985) with James Bond immortalizing her on the big screen. She was close to being the female lead in Blade Runner (1982), but turned down the offer without reading the script because her then-boyfriend, Jean-Paul Goude, was at odds with the director, Ridley Scott (87). She also declined the lead role in Octopussy, another 007 story.
In the 80s, with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan.GTRES
With that androgynous and toned physique, it was only a matter of time before the runways of Paris sought her out. Muse of Yves St. Laurent, Azzedine Alaïa, and Claude Montana, during her time in the fashion capital, she shared an apartment with Jerry Hall (68), ex of Mick Jagger (81) and Rupert Murdoch (94). Thanks to her style and magnetic image, she was dubbed the black panther and is considered the predecessor of Naomi Campbell (54), the ebony goddess.
In her life, there are countless funny, curious, and extravagant anecdotes, such as the time her producer told her to go to the studio located 15 minutes from her home to record additional vocals, and she showed up three days later because she had been busy burning Dolph Lundgren's (67) clothes. Long after the official premiere of A View to a Kill in London, Jones revealed that Prince Charles (76) winked at her knowingly, leaned in to whisper something about one of the blonde actresses, and said something like 'I wonder how you got the part.' They both laughed while Lady Di was behind the prince.
With Queen Elizabeth II there was also a moment since during the Diamond Jubilee, the monarch approached her somewhat disappointed because Jones had changed her outfit: "I told her that I didn't think it was appropriate to be presented to the queen with my legs exposed and my backside out." They both laughed.
The star had a son with her collaborator Jean-Paul Goude named Paulo (46), who has given her only granddaughter, Athena, and later, after hiring Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren as a bodyguard, they had a four-year romance and even appeared in the film A View to a Kill (1985) with James Bond. In 1996, she married a Turkish Muslim named Atila Altaunbay, from whom she divorced in 2004. She dated actor and stuntman Sven-Ole Thorsen, and in her memoirs, she denied marrying singer and producer Chris Stanley. It is said that since 2007, she has chosen to have an open relationship.
Many are unaware that she is multilingual as she speaks English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, and German.