Quotes by Quincy Jones

About Quincy Jones:

Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American record producer, conductor, arranger, composer, musician, television producer, film producer, instrumentalist, magazine founder, entertainment company executive, and humanitarian. His career spans six decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991. Jones and fellow artist Alison Krauss have won the second most Grammys in history.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A great song can make a terrible singer sound good, but a good singer - you put a great song on top of that, you're really in great shape!

Quincy Jones

Melody is king, and don't you ever forget it. Lyrics appear to be out front, but they're not; they're just an accompanying factor. If they're good, you're really in good shape. Lyrics are written to be rewritten.

Quincy Jones

You make your mistakes to learn how to get to the good stuff.

Quincy Jones

It's easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had a good ear, so I realized that printed music was just about reminding you what to play.

Quincy Jones

I didn't understand key signatures or anything, you know. I'd say silly things at the top of a trumpet part like, 'Note, when you play B naturals, make the B naturals a half step lower because they sound funny if they're B naturals.' And some guy sai...

Quincy Jones

I've never been bored in my life, man. I've never been bored or lonely. Are you kidding? No way! I'm an orchestrator, a musician, a producer. I love everything. I've studied languages from Farsi to Greek to French, Swedish, Russian... How can you get...

Quincy Jones

We spent most of our life almost like street rats just running around the street until we were ten years old.

Quincy Jones

I'm never in my life going to do a record that's a tribute to myself. I don't need it.

Quincy Jones

I travel like a maniac. I travel more than anyone I know. I love learning the languages.

Quincy Jones

We stole a box of honey jars one time and went out in the woods and took care of the whole box. I don't think I touched honey again for 20 years. I never wanted to see honey again.

Quincy Jones

Young people should travel, and they don't. You can't know if you don't go.

Quincy Jones

I found this out over the years, that racism is a thinly veiled disguise over economics and money. It really is.

Quincy Jones

I never cared about money or fame, and I don't care now. I follow the groove, and money always follows.

Quincy Jones

I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.

Quincy Jones

Few rappers realize the genre sprang from West African griots through Delta slave songs to jazz poetry and the comedic trash talk of 'the dozens.'

Quincy Jones

All guys get into music because they love music and they also want to get the girls.

Quincy Jones

I don't remember feeling love.

Quincy Jones

I'd been in love before - I was always in love.

Quincy Jones

I guess hip-hop has been closer to the pulse of the streets than any music we've had in a long time. It's sociology as well as music, which is in keeping with the tradition of black music in America.

Quincy Jones

I like all music. The only music I don't like is bad music.

Quincy Jones

I lost my mother when I was 7 and they put her in a mental hospital. My brother and I watched her being taken away in a strait jacket. That's something you never forget. And my stepmother was like in the movie 'Precious.' I couldn't handle it. So I s...

Quincy Jones

Author Bio

  • NameQuincy Jones
  • DescriptionAmerican record producer, conductor, arranger, composer, television producer, and trumpeter
  • AliasesQuincy Delight Jones, Jr.
  • BornMarch 14, 1933
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionConductor; Trumpeter; Composer; Bandleader; Jazz Musician
  • AwardsCommander Of The Legion Of Honour; Marian Anderson Award; Grammy Trustees Award; Grammy Legend Award; MusiCares Person Of The Year; National Humanities Medal; Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award; Steiger Award