#1423: Grace Slick

80s Snapshot:

• Number of songs on Hot 100: 1
• Highest peak position: 95
• Cumulative weeks on the Hot 100: 2

Few artists (especially in the rock space) have sung on hit records over as wide a timeframe as Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Grace Slick. Her tenure as one of the lead vocalists for Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship was just as winding as the band’s own journey and name changes.

Slick was not a member of Jefferson Airplane when they released their debut album, replacing original vocalist Signe Toly Anderson in October 1966. She brought the band two songs from her previous band The Great Society (who themselves had opened for Jefferson Airplane on numerous occasions) which became Jefferson Airplane’s breakout hits: “White Rabbit” and “Somebody To Love.” Those two top-ten hits helped make the Surrealistic Pillow album a platinum success and established the band at the forefront of the Haight-Ashbury psychedelic sound.

Slick remained with Jefferson Airplane through their initial demise in 1972. In the final years of the initial Jefferson Airplane run, Slick released a pair of albums with bandmate and at-the-time partner Paul Kantner: Blows Against The Empire and Sunfighter (the prior being the first appearance of the “Jefferson Starship” name). Shortly after Airplane’s dissolution, Slick and Kantner made another collaborative album in 1973, Baron Von Tollbooth & The Chrome Nun, which also featured fellow bandmate David Freiberg. Slick followed this with her first solo album Manhole in 1974.

The former Jefferson Airplane members who had contributed to the Baron Von Tollbooth album formally re-launched the band as Jefferson Starship in 1974. After re-gaining former lead vocalist Marty Balin in 1975, the band quickly ascended back to the heights of their late 60s fame, logging another pair of top-ten hits with “Miracles” and “Count On Me.” Slick was part of four albums as Jefferson Starship until her dismissal from the band in 1978 following a series of drunken incidents while on tour in West Germany.

Slick released her second solo studio album Dreams in March 1980, with the eight tracks (five written by Slick herself) exploring themes she encountered during her alcoholism rehabilitation process. The album reached #32 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. The Slick-penned single “Seasons” was released to promote the album and featured a gradually-accelerating Eastern European folk feel, reminiscent of Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were The Days” or Cher’s early-70s material. “Seasons” earned a two-week stint on the Hot 100, peaking at #95 on the April 26, 1980 chart. The title track “Dreams” narrowly missed the Hot 100 in its own right, bubbling under at #104 that July.

Her third solo album Welcome To The Wrecking Ball! released 10 months later in January 1981, with the single “Sea Of Love” missing the Hot 100 but making #33 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. Shortly thereafter, she returned to Jefferson Starship, contributing to their final 3 albums before Kantner (the final remaining original member of Jefferson Airplane) departed the group in 1984.

As another period of uncertainty with the band ensued (Kantner would take legal action to prevent further usage of the name Jefferson Starship), Slick released her fourth and final solo album Software, which failed to chart along with its two singles. With Jefferson fully removed from their name, the rebranded Starship prominently featured Slick and became an unlikely smash success in the back half of the 80s. Slick’s vocals are present on all three of their #1 hits: “We Built This City”, “Sara”, and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”.

Slick departed Starship in early 1988 and participated in a full reunion of the classic Jefferson Airplane lineup in 1989. The self-titled album was a commercial and critical disappointment but resulted in a successful tour. After this reunion, Slick effectively retired from the music business, making a few one-off appearances with Kantner’s breakaway version of Jefferson Starship. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as part of Jefferson Airplane, but was not in attendance for the ceremony and reunion performance.

Next: Tia
Previous: Kings Of The Sun