money Quincy Jones claims Elvis Presley ‘was a racist’ and refused to work with him
Quincy Jones has said that he would not work with Elvis Presley, alleging that the late singer “was a racist”.
The musician – best known for producing Michael Jackson’s albums Thriller, Off the Wall, and Bad – made the comments during a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
The outlet asked Jones about Presley after the producer compared Jackson to the King of Rock and Roll.
Asked if he would ever work with Presley, Jones replied: “No, I wouldn’t work with him.”
Pressed for reasons behind the statement, the 88-year-old said “he was a racist mother – ”.
“I was writing for [orchestra leader] Tommy Dorsey, oh God, back then in the Fifties. And Elvis came in, and Tommy said: ‘I don’t want to play with him,’” recalled Jones. “He was a racist mother – I’m going to shut up now.”
He added: “But every time I saw Elvis, he was being coached by Otis Blackwell, telling him how to sing.”
The Hollywood Reporter, however, notes that Blackwell told David Letterman on his show in 1987 that he and Presley had never met.
The Independent contacted a representative of Presley’s estate for comment, who also recalled Blackwell’s 1987 interview. “This speaks to the credibility of the comments,” said Presley’s estate.
Jones also recalled the discrimination he faced during the early days of his career.
“They called me to do Gregory Peck’s Mirage (1965) and I came out here [Hollywood]. I was dressed in my favourite suit and the producer came to meet me at Universal,” he said.
“He stopped in his tracks – total shock – and he went back and told [music supervisor] Joe Gershenson, ‘You didn’t tell me Quincy Jones was a negro.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Jones also spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement, stating “it’s been coming a long time”.
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