Grace Slick's Real Name: Grace Barnett Wing

Quick answer: The singer is known professionally as Grace Slick. AllMusic and Encyclopedia.com both record the name Grace Barnett Wing and the birth date October 30, 1939. AllMusic places the birth in Highland Park, Illinois. Encyclopedia.com independently places the birth in Chicago, Illinois.

Real name and early life

AllMusic lists her as also known as Grace Barnett Wing and gives the birth date October 30, 1939, in Highland Park, Illinois. Encyclopedia.com independently says she was born Grace Barnett Wing on 30 October 1939 in Chicago, Illinois, the elder of two children of Ivan Wing and Virginia Barnett, and that the family later lived in San Francisco before moving to Palo Alto in the early 1950s. AllMusic's biographical essay says she grew up in Palo Alto, California, became a model, and married Jerry Slick.

Career highlights

AllMusic says that after seeing Jefferson Airplane perform in 1965, she, her husband, and her brother-in-law, Darby Slick, formed the Great Society, which released a 1966 single of "Somebody to Love," written by Darby Slick. Encyclopedia.com independently describes the Great Society and says Slick brought "Somebody to Love" and her own composition "White Rabbit" to Jefferson Airplane. AllMusic says she was asked to replace Jefferson Airplane singer Signe Anderson and joined the group in time for the recording of its second album, Surrealistic Pillow, and that both songs became Top Ten hits in 1967. Encyclopedia.com also places those songs on Surrealistic Pillow (1967), which it says rose to number three on the Billboard charts, but it dates Anderson's departure and Slick's arrival to September 1968.

AllMusic traces later albums with Jefferson Airplane, then work with Paul Kantner, the solo album Manhole (1974), Jefferson Starship records including Red Octopus (1975), and later hits with Starship, including "We Built This City" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now." The same account says she left Starship in 1988, joined a 1989 Jefferson Airplane reunion, retired from performing in the 1990s, and published an autobiography, Somebody to Love?, in 1998.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Grace Slick or Grace Barnett Wing are looking for the same singer, including the later Jefferson Airplane recordings most often associated with her name. Search traffic often uses the professional name Grace Slick.