Grace Jones

A cult New York club fixture during the era of Studio 54 and Andy Warhol (for whom she was a muse), Grace Jones established herself in the pop culture mainstream as disco gave way to new wave in the early '80s. Brandishing her killer trademark look of angular androgyny, the striking Jamaican-American singer-songwriter-actress-supermodel put out an incredible series of tracks impeccably produced by the likes of Sly & Robbie ("Pull Up to the Bumper") and Trevor Horn ("Slave to the Rhythm").

Jones takes the art of the cover version to whole new level, in Next Steps.

When Grace Jones covers a song, she makes it entirely her own, often obliterating any recognisable trace of the original — here, you'll find brilliant covers of Iggy Pop's "Nighclubbing" and the Police's "Demolition Man", as well as the long version of Joy Division's "She's Lost Control" from the excellent 1998 anthology Private Life – The Compass Point Sessions. We've also added to the mix an autobiographical track, "Williams Blood", from 2008's Hurricane, her first new album in 19 years.

Known in the late '70s as Queen of the Gay Discos, Grace Jones went on to occupy a unique creative space on the pop landscape of the '80s and beyond, forging a dynamic body of work from artful fashion and cutting edge new wave, interlaced with funk and dub reggae. Paired with stylist Jean-Paul Goude (the father of her son), Jones supplemented her incredible contralto with some of the most memorable imagery in music — notably the cover of compilation album Island Life — and would make a name for herself in the U.K. by famously thumping chat show host Russell Harty during an interview in 1981 . . . not to mention a movie career that takes in Conan the Barbarian and Bond outing A View to a Kill. Among this choice retrospective, you'll also find incredible 21st century tracks like 2008's "Corporate Cannibal", with its ominous rumble of dub and its spine of burnished rock.