Quincy Jones Says He Refused To Work With Elvis Presley Because He Was Racist

May 25, 2021 / Posted by:

Old LLQJ (that’s Loose Lips Quincy Jones) is at it again, flapping his gums and telling stories out of school. I wish I could take credit for coining LLQJ, but that’s the name his daughters gave him after his last string of interviews landed him in hot water. And what does a legend do when they find themselves with a surplus of hot water? Well, he makes his apologies and then pours another serving of tea. The tea’s not quite as hot as this round (hard to top Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor, just ask Marvin Gaye) but tasty all the same. In the first installment of The Hollywood Reporter’s Icon series of interviews, 88-year-old Quincy claims that he refused to work with Elvis Presley because Elvis was “a racist mother…” which is not nearly as surprising as finding out that Marie Osmond had a big ole’ ass. Two lumps, lots of lemon for me, thanks Q.

According to THR, discussing “the sexual misconduct allegations” against Michael Jackson was among “certain topics where Jones simply would not venture,” but he did touch on MJ’s posthumous father-in-law of about a minute, Elvis Presley.

THR: Did you ever work with Elvis?

Q: No. I wouldn’t work with him.

THR: Why not?

Q: I was writing for [orchestra leader] Tommy Dorsey, oh God, back then in the ’50s. And Elvis came in, and Tommy said, “I don’t want to play with him.” He was a racist mother — I’m going to shut up now. But every time I saw Elvis, he was being coached by [“Don’t Be Cruel” songwriter] Otis Blackwell, telling him how to sing. [Blackwell told David Letterman in 1987 that he and Presley had never met.]

DAMN YOU RASHIDA JONES! Throughout this interview, Quincy stops himself before he gets to the good part, claiming his “daughters set an intervention” with him after his 2018 interviews with GQ and Vulture as if “do you like Brazilian music?” wasn’t the greatest non-sequitur of the century. In that GQ interview, Quincy claimed that Dorsey wouldn’t let Elvis play with the band because the “motherfucker couldn’t sing,” but as we know, two things can be true. I don’t think anyone is surprised to learn that Elvis would probably have rolled over in his grave to see his daughter Lisa Marie Presley married to MJ if he had the abdominal strength to pull off that kind of maneuver.

Quincy really does give the best interview in the biz. In this one, he also shaded Elon Musk’s SNL appearance (“he wasn’t hilarious, but he was funny. At least his attempt was funny,”) talked about having gained (and since lost) weight because “was spending a lot of time in Brazil and was putting açai juice in vodka 24/7,” described Judy Garland doing a bit with a microphone wrapped in a condom that would make Jill Scott blush, and talked about how being a “Pisces, Leo rising and a Scorpio moon,” “got me feeling so horny.” And his personal astrologist? Astronaut John Glenn. And let’s not forget that sweet Mormon ass.

THR: And that was it, that was the end of you and Donny Osmond?

QJ: Yeah. Marie was cute, though. A lot of booty. (Says something in Russian.)

Quincy claims he speaks 27 languages, and I don’t care if half of what he says is made up. Because the other half that is true is the realest shit we’ll ever hear.

Pic: Wenn.com

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