Born on May 19: Grace Jones, music and fashion icon

She was born in 1948 in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and has lived many lives before celebrating her 77th birthday today. 

Indeed, her mother's father played in Nat King Cole's orchestra, but her own father, a strict preacher, was an advocate of a rigorous education. Particularly for a girl, of course. Three mandatory church visits a week, and Beverly (her baptismal name) could have remained stuck in that narrow mould and become, as is often said, a "good mother of the family". When she joined her parents in the United States in the early 1960s, she began to rebel against the familial constraints. Her proud, independent character began to take shape, and she eventually soared, both literally and figuratively, to the City of Light.

At the age of 18, she joined a modelling agency and her life changed. She briefly shared an apartment with Jerry Hall (who would marry Mick Jagger in 1990). She charmed the first generation of Japanese designers by settling in Paris: Issey Miyake and Kenzo Takada. Bit by bit, long before Black Lives Matter, she appeared on the covers of "Elle" and "Vogue". A feat for a black woman at the time...

Her meeting with Jean-Paul Goude in 1978 would once again change her life. She undoubtedly became his muse, while he enjoyed his role as her mentor. They lived together for a few years. One of their first creations: Grace roaring in a cage, with a piece of meat and naked, no less, caused a scandal, of course. Goude also designed the iconic cover of the album "Island Life" as well as a handful of emblematic advertisements for the Citroën CX among others.

Her musical career, studded with successes such as "Pull Up The Jumper", "I’ve Seen That Face Before", "Slave To The Rhythm", and the best cover of Edith Piaf's classic "La vie en rose", proves that she's both a music and fashion icon. On March 2, 2019, at the age of 70, she was still strutting the runway for the American brand Tommy Hilfiger at the Grand Palais in Paris. Grace Jones is undeniably an extraordinary woman...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Grace Jones on the stage at Ancienne Belgique in Brussels (Belgium) on October 4, 1981, for her first tour following the release of the album "Nightclubbing".