Diamanda Galás with John Paul Jones

The Profile

A collaboration between American avant-garde vocalist Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955, San Diego) and English multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones, documented on the 1994 album The Sporting Life (Mute Records). The record pairs Galás' blues-tinged vocal experiments with Jones' restrained, analog instrumentation.

Diamanda Galás was born August 29, 1955 in San Diego and is of Greek descent; she has a history of avant-garde vocal work and activism including public engagement with AIDS-related themes. The Sporting Life was released by Mute Records in 1994.

The reviews present The Sporting Life as Diamanda Galás' blues-leaning, more measured phase, recorded with John Paul Jones' restrained, analog instrumentation. Critics praise Galás' extraordinary presence and Jones' class while noting thin lyrics and a disturbing visual aesthetic. The album (Mute Records, 1994) is framed as an intense, unsettling but refined entry in her oeuvre.