A list of Quincy Jones’ recent name drops
By Julia Breakey on 8 February, 2018
Music industry legend Quincy Jones has been making waves this week following the release of two interviews that showcase his extraordinary life. From partying with Frank Sinatra to frequent dinners with Elon Musk — Jones has lived a life many wouldn’t believe possible.
So, without further ado, here are some of the most famous people Jones name dropped in his interviews with GQ and Vulture, just in case you wanted to reevaluate your relatively bland life.
- Frank Sinatra: close friends; drinking buddies; tried to set him up with Marilyn Monroe (“Marilyn Monroe had a chest that looked like pears, man”); when he passed, left Jones a ring he wore for 40 years
- Ray Charles: Sinatra and Jones’ drinking buddy; introduced 15-year-old Jones to heroin; used to shoot heroin in his testicles because “all of his veins were dried up and black”; would up the ante on his blindness to get girls to feel sorry for him
- Oprah: enjoyed his Thriller ribs; introduced him to the Obamas in 2007 to woo him away from the Clintons, his longtime friends
- Malcolm X: Jones would personally buy drugs from the legendary civil rights activist
- Nelson Mandela: tried to get Jones to touch a cheetah
- Steven Spielberg: showed him first abandoned prototype for E.T.
- Elon Musk: neighbours for 10 years; invited him to dinners with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, and “all those cats”; Musk also keeps trying to get Jones to go to Burning Man
- Nat King Cole: toured with Jones in 1961, “we couldn’t stop the girls”
- Buzz Aldrin: Played Sinatra and Jones’ song on the moon; more recently has hung out with Jones, who calls him “a wild motherfucker”
- Stevie Wonder: recently the two have been “doing a lot of shit together”
- Bono: lets him stay in his castle when he goes up to Dublin, because Ireland and Scotland are “so racist it’s frightening”
- Truman Capote: asked In Cold Blood director Richard Brooks why he had a “Negro doing music for a film with no people of colour in it”
- Picasso: would pay for restaurant bills by signing his leftover bones
- John F Kennedy: says Chicago mobster Sam Giancana killed him
- Donald Trump: used to hang out with him
- Ivanka Trump: used to date her after Tommy Hilfiger set them up
- Marlon Brando: would “fuck anything”; Jones claims he slept with James Baldwin, Richard Pryor, and Marvin Gaye
- Romano Mussolini: Jones used to “jam” with Benito Mussolini’s son, who would tell him about Catholicism
- Paul Allen: Jones says the Microsoft co-founder sings and plays guitar just like Jimi Hendrix
- Ringo Starr: Jones says Starr was a terrible drummer, and when he was struggling with a song, he sent him away and got jazz drummer Ronnie Verrell to do it
- Porfirio Rubirosa Ariza: the Dominican diplomat and playboy was great with women; Jones recalls his “eleven-inch dong”
Oh, the things Quincy Jones must know. I’m just grateful he’s shared this little bit with us.
Feature image: Elon Musk (JD Lasica via Flickr, CC BY 2.0), Quincy Jones (Canadian Film Centre via Flickr, CC BY 2.0), Buzz Aldrin (Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0), Steven Spielberg (Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0), Ivanka Trump (Michael Vadon via Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
Author | Julia Breakey
Julia is a UCT film graduate with a passion for dogs, media, and dog-centric media. If she's not gushing about the new television show that you need to watch, she's rewatching The Good Place (which you need to watch).
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