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.
Rock n' roll can get quite overwhelming. You can get caught up in the cycle.
You had to wear a hat to go to church. We weren't allowed to straighten our hair. We couldn't wear jewellery, nail polish, open backed shoes, skirts above the knee... trousers were forbidden because male apparel on a female was not godly.
Models are there to look like mannequins, not like real people. Art and illusion are supposed to be fantasy.
Religion has stayed with me even though I rebelled.
My mum was very glamorous, an incredible seamstress. She made up those Vogue, Givenchy and Yves St. Laurent patterns they used to sell. It was church couture, darling! Because my dad was a pastor, she could get away with more than other women. Her skirts were that bit tighter.
When I was modelling, I spent half my life staring at thousands of perfect reflections. It got to a stage where I was losing all sense of reality - so after I quit modelling, I took all the mirrors out of my house.
I like dressing like a guy. I love it. When I was modeling I used to do pictures where I would dress up like my little brother. No makeup, and I looked like a boy.
I love women, but I've never had a relationship with a woman.
They used to call me Firefly when I was a little girl, and I always tried to figure out why I was being called a firefly. I was really black, black, black from the sun. After being in Jamaica for 13 years, my eyes were really beady and white, and my skin was really black. I must have really looked like a fly. My eyes looked like lights, like stars.
I was a go-go dancer, too. I called myself 'Grace Mendoza' to fool my parents.
Mum was a high-jumper and qualified to go to the Olympics, but it got into the newspapers that she was married to my father, and the church put pressure on her to pull out of the Olympic team, saying, 'You can't be exposing all your legs.' That's how strong the influence of the church was on us all.
I'm always rebelling. I don't think I'll ever stop.
My brother used to get beaten up all the time because he was very effeminate.
Shock always sells. You know? But you could shock in good taste.
Most performers take themselves too seriously. They forget there is a difference between the characters they play on the screen or stage and themselves, but the public doesn't forget there is a difference. They see how silly it is if you try to be the same person all the time.
Even though the agency kept me pretty busy, I auditioned for every play and film I could find. But they all wanted a black American sound, and I just didn't have it. Finally, I got tired of trotting around and took myself to Paris.
Human beings should stick together. Honestly, if I see a red-haired person with blue eyes now, I say, 'Is your granny black?'
Now when I enter a carriage, it almost empties. But there's always one brave enough to stay.
Music has its own depths, and I let it take me where it takes me, even if it means stripping all my clothes off.
