Quincy Jones offered his no-holds-bar stories for the THR Icon series.
Arguably the best producer of all time has worked with many of the greats including Michael Jackson and Will Smith. Quincy Jones knew how to spot talent. He said, “It’s just the personality, man, personality. Back in the day, all I had to say is, ‘I want a singer that after 15 seconds of hearing them, I know exactly who they are.’ Because singers have that kind of identification or not, and I work with all of them. I worked with Billie Holiday at 14, God.” Quincy also discussed the first time meeting MJ. He said, “When he was 12 at Sammy Davis’ house, and he told me when we decided to do [The Wiz], he says ‘I need you to help me find a producer. I’m getting ready to do my first solo album.” Now when Elvis Priestly’s name was brought up, Quincy Jones said he would ‘never work with him’.
He claims that Elvis was racist and basically alluded to the fact that he did not respect Elvis.
