Quincy Jones, who has died aged 91, was a music legend – and also knew how to give a legendary interview.
The record producer and musician worked with everyone from Michael Jackson to Amy Winehouse, Frank Sinatra to Snoop Dogg, and wasn’t afraid to share his candid opinions with journalists.
From the Beatles being terrible at making music to admiring the Pope’s footwear, here are some of Jones’ most illuminating quotes – and spiciest takes – on the music industry and beyond.
The Beatles “were no-playing motherf***ers”
Jones arranged a song for Ringo Starr’s 1970 solo album, but his encounters with the Beatles left him less than impressed. In a 2018 interview with Vulture, he gave his opinion on the talents of British band.
“They were the worst musicians in the world. They were no-playing motherf***ers. Paul was the worst bass player I ever heard. And Ringo? Don’t even talk about it,” Jones told celebrity journalist David Marchese.
Jones recalled an excruciating session with Starr and record producer George Martin. “[Starr] 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.’” They called in jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell to record the part.
“Ringo says, ‘That didn’t sound so bad.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, motherf***er because it ain’t you.’ Great guy, though.”
Trump is “limited mentally”
Jones gave a damning indictment of former US President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump during the same Vulture interview.
“I used to hang out with him. He’s a crazy motherf***er. Limited mentally – a megalomaniac, narcissistic. I can’t stand him.”
In the same conversation Jones, then aged 84, claimed he used to date Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who is 48 years his junior. According to his recollection it was in 2006 when Tommy Hilfiger set them up, when Jones would have been 72 and Ivanka 25.
“[Hilfiger] said, Ivanka wants to have dinner with you.’ I said, ‘No problem. She’s a fine motherf***er.’ She had the most beautiful legs I ever saw in my life. Wrong father, though.”
Marlon Brando would “f**k anything”
Yes, that 2018 Vulture interview was full of bombshells. In a discussion about cha-cha, Jones veered into a tangent about actor Marlon Brando’s allegedly prolific love life. “He could dance his ass off. He was the most charming motherf***er you ever met,” Jones recalled.
“He’d f**k anything. Anything! He’d f**k a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye.” Having dropped the piping hot tea, Jones blithely segued into asking if Marchese enjoyed Brazilian music.
The Pope wore “pimp shoes”
When Jones and Bono met Pope John Paul II in 1999, the producer was impressed by the pontiff’s foorwear. Bono recalled Jones, upon catching sight of the shoes, exclaimed “The cat is wearing pimp shoes. Stylin'!”. In an interview with GQ, Jones confirmed his reaction.
"We had to go and kiss his hand before we left. And when I kissed his hand, I looked down and saw those shoes and it just fell out of my mouth,” said Jones. "I said, 'Oh, my man's got some pimp shoes on.' And he heard me."
Naomi Campbell has “anger management issue”
Jones has a fatherly relationship with model Naomi Campbell – Dylan Jones, editor of The London Standard, recalled in a 2018 interview with British GQ.
“Naomi, who has been like my daughter for 19 years, she has lots of anger management issues, but I always look for the sweet side,” Jones said.
Jones and Campbell were both at the 1997 charity dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela in South Africa where former African dictator Charles Taylor gifted the model some “blood diamonds”, which she later testified about at The Hague.
Elon Musk is “a great guy”
While Jones went off Trump, he only had nice things to say about the candidate’s current cheerleader Elon Musk. Jones and the billionaire used to live next door to each other in Bel Air.
"Elon Musk was my neighbor for 10 years. Great guy, man. He's a fearless motherf***er,” Jones told GQ. “Every week we'd have two or three dinners with Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin and all those cats. Jeffrey Bezos."
The Tesla tycoon also gets a mention in the Vulture interview. “Musk keeps trying to get me to go to Burning Man. No thank you.”
Porfirio Rubirosa had an “eleven-inch dong”
Diplomat, playboy and race car driver Porfirio Rubirosa was supposedly the inspiration for James Bond (one of the many supposed inspirations for 007). Jones was ready with an anecdote about Rubrisosa’s legendary success with women in the GQ interview.
“Amazing man. What a guy. Eleven-inch dong,” Jones recalled. “And in Paris to this day, you go to Chez L'Ami Louis, the waiter will come over to you with a pepper shaker and say, 'Here's your Rubirosa.'”
