Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick Left The Spotlight Behind For A Confounding Change

When it comes to rock and roll legends, Grace Slick is up there with the best of them. As the frontwoman of Jefferson Airplane, she was huge in the 1960s and ’70s. But despite all Slick’s success, she eventually walked away from the spotlight in 1989 — and for a very surprising reason.

Quite the career

This move marked the end of an extremely memorable career, since Slick had been responsible for bringing many classic rock tracks to life. She was the perfect fit for Jefferson Airplane. And in addition to her wonderful voice, we can’t forget to mention the singer’s excellent writing skills.

Writing a classic

Yep, Slick penned the iconic track “White Rabbit” — arguably Jefferson Airplane’s most famous song. Anyway, that made her retirement all the more difficult to take. Why was the talented star leaving the world of music behind? And what did she plan on doing instead? Well, the answers to both those questions are sure to catch you off guard.

Jefferson Airplane’s formation

Here’s another potential surprise for you — it’s easy to forget that Slick wasn’t one of the original members of Jefferson Airplane. The band came together in 1965 with singer Marty Balin leading the charge. He went on to encourage five other artists to join him, including female vocalist Signe Toly Anderson.

Big plans

Balin wanted to capture the “folky rock” blend that was proving to be a big success during that period. But that’s not all. He also aimed to start up a new bar, which in turn would give the band a platform to perform. You can’t say the singer wasn’t ambitious!