Quincy Jones doesn’t shy away from saying how he really feels. Two lengthy and revealing interviews with the legendary producer were published over the past two weeks — one for Vulture, in which Jones called Michael Jackson “greedy” (among many other lightning-rod topics), and another for GQ, in which he dissed Taylor Swift‘s songwriting abilities. But the two interviews are hardly the the first times Jones has gotten super, super candid.
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The music industry icon is known for his outspoken personality. In fact, he’s even earned himself the nickname LL QJ, or Loose Lips Quincy Jones.
Here are some of his wildest and most controversial quotes from over the years:
On having sex with older women, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, 2001
“He [the bandleader] had a special room in his house where we could have sex with girls. I loved me some 35 and 40 year-old girls when I was young. He used to make all his band members contribute to clean sheets for our dating room. He’s have the girls take hot baths, which he knew would jump start their months, when they were even a bit late.”
On cheating on his wife, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, 2001
“I got caught flat, red-handed, several times, one of the most notable times being with Dinah Washington, which was ironic because Dinah and I never had a real thang thing. My tryst with Dinah Washington was the beginning of the end of my marriage, which lingered on for the next five years but began to fizzle and fall apart at that point.”
On never working with Michael Jackson again, NME, 2007
“Man please, I’ve got enough to do. We already did that….I’ve got too much to do. I’ve got 900 products, I’m 74 years-old. Give me a break.”
On young people not paying for music, Rolling Stone, 2010
“People have passion for music, but they don’t wanna pay! Young people don’t know music was ever paid for. Did you know that digital information started in 3500 BC in Egypt? That’s the cradle of civilization, anyway. Today a permutation of 1’s and 0’s is still the secret of IT. It’s amazing, man.”
On women, Telegraph, 2010
“As long as there are hot ladies around I don’t mind. I was married for 36 years but now I’m free. I’ve done my duty. Seven children, six grandchildren, five mothers, three wives. My oldest grandson is 36. I might be a great grandfather soon.”
On losing his virginity, Telegraph, 2010
‘I must have been 12. When I was 15 I was with a 35-year-old girl. She was accused of rape but I said that ain’t no goddam rape, 35 is when a woman reaches her sexual peak. Men reach it much younger.’
On his upbringing, Telegraph, 2010
“Seeing dead bodies and machine guns, that is what I remember most from my childhood in the South Side of Chicago. Drive-by shootings. It was the biggest black ghetto in the worst depression. There was nothing but gangsters around us and I wanted to be one, too.”
On his family, Telegraph, 2010
“My stepmother beat the s— out of me and my brother, so when I was 12 I fought back and knocked the hell out of her. But you can’t sit and whine about that sh–.”
On not going to Michael Jackson’s funeral, Telegraph, 2010
“I was in London when Michael died, which was hard for me. Not that I wanted to go to the funeral. I don’t go to them any more because I find them too depressing.”
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On Ray Charles and drugs, Telegraph, 2010
“Ray Charles was taking heroin in front of me when I was 13. I got tired of being left out so I would have a sniff, then two months later you are shooting up. That’s how you start. The body needs more and more. Ray was on heroin for 30 years. Charlie Parker, Miles Davis they were all stoned. Marijuana was part of the culture. And a little toke now and then never hurt anyone. It enhances the senses. But as Bird himself said, if you can’t play it’s not going to help you.”
On Tupac, NY Times, 2012
“The people who say I wanted to have sex with [Tupac] Man, this is the biggest age of haters I have ever seen in my life. I’ve been called a blonde-lover, a pedophile, gay, everything. I don’t care, man. Imagine my daughter being engaged to Tupac and me trying to make love to him? And I’m not into no men, man. I’m a hard-core lesbian. Are you kidding? All my life, all my life.”
On Jackson’s posthumous album, Rolling Stone, 2014
“They’re trying to make money, and I understand it….Everybody’s after money, the estate, the lawyers. It’s about money.”
On cocaine, The Guardian, 2014
“Freud came up with the concept of cocaine. I used to work for pimps when I was little, and they used to take it all the time because it closes down any fear or problem with violence…..I think marijuana should be legalised. I’ve been through all of that, where you have to be secretive and don’t want your parents to know. It’s a very interesting addiction. Any kind of dope is. You walk in the door at A, go to B, go to the 12th floor and it’s over.”
On cell phones, The Guardian, 2014
“I got 19 of them [mobile phones]. I don’t carry one with me. My security guy handles that. Every minute those suckers go off. It’s the age of cocoonism….where everybody on the fuckin’ planet is sitting at home fiddling with their goddam phones.”