- The legendary music producer has passed away at the age of 91
- Jones conducted an infamous interview with Vulture in 2018 in which he tore into Michael Jackson, The Beatles and Donald Trump
- The producer would also reveal that he knew who killed JFK and that Marlon Brando had multiple homosexual affairs with Marvin Gaye, Richard Pryor and James Baldwin
As friends, family and fans of Quincy Jones mourn the passing of the iconic music producer, many will discuss and remember the countless seminal albums he arranged throughout an unparalleled musical career.
However, some of us will also remember the outstanding interview he gave to Vulture, in 2018.
Jones, who spent a career spanning more than 50 years working with several of the highest-profile names in the music business (stockpiling Grammys along the way) could also, it turns out, deliver the most bombastic interviews in history.
“All I’ve ever done is tell the truth”
And in 2018, it didn’t matter how big of a name you were, Jones was going to go nuclear on your ass. Especially if he thought you were a s**tty drummer.
Conducted in Jones’ palatial Bel-Air home, the interview begins somewhat ominously, with the 28-time Grammy winner explaining, “All I’ve ever done is tell the truth. I’ve got nothing to be scared of, man.”
An aversion to fear is quite evident as, within minutes of the interview beginning, Jones is naming the mobster he believes was responsible for the JFK assassination. Informing interviewer David Marchese that “I know too much, man” after discussing his relationship with Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jones is then pressed on what he knows, to which the producer replies, “Who killed Kennedy”.
“[Chicago mobster Sam] Giancana. The connection was there between Sinatra and the Mafia and Kennedy. Joe Kennedy — he was a bad man — he came to Frank to have him talk to Giancana about getting votes.”
The Giancana theory is one that has long been discussed, especially as Giancana himself was murdered in 1975, not long before he was due to testify before a senate committee investing collusion between the mafia and the CIA.
However, when Marchese looks to get Jones to expand more on the subject, citing how the mafia reportedly helped Kennedy win Illinois in the 1963 US Presidential election, Jones responds, “we shouldn’t talk about this publicly.”
Something Jones was very comfortable talking about publicly, though, was Michael Jackson being a plagiarist.
“Michael stole a lot of stuff”
“I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs. [Donna Summer’s] ‘State of Independence’ and ‘Billie Jean’. The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come.
“I used to kill him about the plastic surgery, man. He’d always justify it and say it was because of some disease he had. Bulls**t.”
Next on Jones’ hitlist would be The Beatles who, despite being widely regarded as, y’know, the greatest and most influential band of all time, did not do much that impressed Quincy Jones.
“Rock ain’t nothing but a white version of rhythm and blues, motherfucker. You know, I met Paul McCartney when he was 21.
“They were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherf**kers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it. I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it.
“We said, ‘Mate, why don’t you get some lager and lime, some shepherd’s pie, and take an hour-and-a-half and relax a little bit.’ So he did, and we called Ronnie Verrell, a jazz drummer. Ronnie came in for 15 minutes and tore it up. Ringo comes back and says, ‘George, can you play it back for me one more time?’ So George did, and Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherf**ker because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
Somehow, dropping “great guy, though” at the end of such a scathing takedown of someone’s musical abilities makes it feel even more harsh?
And obviously, it makes it far, far funnier too.
“A megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him”
Next up on Jones’ hitlist was then-US President Donald Trump, whose name rears its head during a conversation about racism, with the music icon explaining how Trump had exacerbated the problem in the United States, before not-so-subtly revealing that he had briefly dated Trump’s daughter, Ivanka.
“It’s Trump and uneducated rednecks. Trump is just telling them what they want to hear. I used to hang out with him. He’s a crazy motherfucker. Limited mentally — a megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him. I used to date Ivanka, you know.
“Twelve years ago. Tommy Hilfiger, who was working with my daughter Kidada, said, ‘Ivanka wants to have dinner with you.’ I said, ‘No problem. She’s a fine motherfucker.’ She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though.”
Not content with dropping some of the most sensational gossip on public record, Jones then decides to fully out Marlon Brando for having sexual affairs with Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye and James Baldwin.
“Brando used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherf**ker you ever met. He’d f**k anything. Anything! He’d f**k a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.”
It wasn’t all hot topics though. Jones did speak positively about the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper, Steven Spielberg and Bono in the interview, one he would later apologise for shortly after a family intervention with his six daughters, in a lengthy post on X.
“I am an imperfect human and I’m not afraid to say it. And I’m sorry and I’m not afraid to say it. When you’ve been fortunate enough to have lived such a long and crazy life (and you’ve recently stopped drinking – three years ago!), certain details about specific events (which do NOT paint the full picture of my intentions nor experiences) come flooding back all at once and even at 85, it’s apparent that ‘wordvomit’ and bad-mouthing is inexcusable,” explained the musician.
“One of the hardest things about this situation is that, this bad-mouthing had contradicted the very real messages I tried to relay about racism, inequality, homophobia, poverty… you name it. And of course I don’t want that. I have already reached out to my friends privately, but when you live a public life, you have a responsibility to be an example, and since I do lead a public life, I wanted to make a public apology.”
In a world where public figures often give such dry, PR-friendly answers to media questions, Jones, at 85 years of age in 2018, just deciding to say “f**k it” and become a lightning rod for controversy was an enormous display of energy – the likes of which we don’t see enough of from major stars.
While his lengthy apology did offer some genuine remorse, Jones’ original words were those of a man whose fearlessness had been such an integral part of his colossal career.
It’s likely that we will never see (or hear) another like him.
