Grace Barnett Wing Slick (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, artist and former model, widely known in rock and roll history for her role in San Francisco‘s burgeoning psychedelic music scene in the mid-1960s. Her music career spanned four decades. She performed with The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship. She also had a sporadic solo career. Slick provided vocals on a number of well-known songs, including “Somebody to Love,” “White Rabbit,” “We Built This City,” and “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now.”

Grace Barnett Wing was born October 30, 1939, in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, to Ivan Wilford Wing (1907–1987), of Norwegian and Swedish descent, and Virginia Wing (née Barnett; 1910–1984).

In August 1965, Slick read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the newly formed Jefferson Airplane. Despite being situated in the growing musical center of San Francisco, Slick only half-heartedly considered music for a profession until she watched the band live at The Matrix. As a result, Slick (vocals, guitar), accompanied by husband Jerry Slick (drums), Jerry’s brother Darby Slick (lead guitar), and David Miner (bass guitar) formed a group called The Great Society. On October 15, 1965, the band made its debut performance at a venue known as the Coffee Gallery, and soon after Slick composed the psychedelic piece “White Rabbit“. The song, which she is purported to have written in an hour, is a reflection on the hallucinatory effects of psychedelic drugs; when performed live, it featured a speedier tempo and was an instant favorite among the band’s followers.^[9] Although Slick was an equal contributor to The Great Society’s original material, Darby Slick pushed the band toward becoming a raga-influenced psychedelic act. By late 1965, they had become a popular attraction in the Bay Area. Between October and December 1965, The Great Society entered Golden State Recorders and recorded several tracks under the supervision of Sylvester Stewart. One single emerged from the demos, the Darby Slick-penned “Someone to Love” b/w “Free Advice” on the locally based Autumn Records subsidiary label “North Beach”. Grace Slick supplied vocals, guitar, piano, and recorder.