Grace Jones

“This is what I would say to my pupil: 'You have become only your fame and left behind most of who you were. How are you going to deal with that? Will you lose that person forever? Have you become someone else without really knowing it? Do you always have to stay in character for people to like you? Do you know that you are in character?'.”

“I would have rebelled against parental authority, no matter what. When I was 15, I started painting my face and making my own clothes.”

“I came from a very strict background, and didn't hear any Jamaican music when I was growing up.”

“I go feminine, I go masculine. I am both, actually. I think the male side is a bit stronger in me, and I have to tone it down sometimes. I'm not like a normal woman, that's for sure.”

“I am not a diva: I am a Jones. 'Diva' is so overused. Diva, icons, the whole thing, legends... To be a diva, what is that?”

“I don't think 'pop' should mean that you had no talent.”

“Fear is fear of fear, I think.”

“To be honest, my life is not really as way-out and myth-loaded as people like to portray it.”

“Women and men grow up with both sexes. Our mothers and fathers mean a lot to us, so it's just a question of finding a balance between their influences. I've found mine. And it tends to be more on the male side. I mean male side the way we understand it in the West.”

“You can't expect your children to be perfect.”

“I'm always rebelling. I don't think I'll ever stop.”

“I always thought that feminine, softer side was just too vulnerable to put out there, because then it's like you're opening up a door for everybody to come in, and you don't know who's going to come in that door.”

“There will always be a replacement coming along very soon - a newer version, a crazier version, a louder version. So if you haven't got a long-term plan, then you are merely a passing phase, the latest trend, yesterday's event.”

“Sometimes we'd have to climb a tree and pick our own whips to be disciplined with. When you had to pick your own whip, you knew you were in for it.”

“My dad's family were political and he was always a theatrical creature, whereas my mum is really musical and her father was the touring pianist with Nat King Cole. My family was an explosive mixture of politics, religion and music - no wonder I turned out how I did.”

“I love women, but I've never had a relationship with a woman.”

“When I perform on stage I become those male bullies, those dominators from my childhood. That's probably why it's so scary, because they scared me.”