Legendary musician, Quincy Jones, who is best known as the producer of Michael Jackson’s three platinum-selling albums; Off the Wall, Bad and Thriller announced last night that he will not be attending the weekend funeral for The King of Pop.
“I won’t go to any more funerals as long as I live … I can’t handle it,” 76-year-old Quincy told ET on Tuesday.
Last week, Quincy had revealed an intimate blog post for the Los Angeles Times, writing about Jackson’s dedication to his craft, and their incredibly successful partnership in pop music history.
“Prior to filming “The Wiz”, Michael and I were working at my home and he asked if I could help find him a producer to work with him on his first solo album from Epic. I knew that we could go into completely unexplored territory, a place that as a jazz musician gave me goose bumps.
Michael was so shy he’d sit down and sing behind the couch with his back to me while I sat there with my hands over my eyes with the lights off.
I told Michael that we needed a black rock ‘n’ roll tune — a black ‘My Sharona’ — and a begging tune for the album,” Jones wrote. “He came back with ‘Beat It’ and Rod came back with ‘The Lady in My Life.’ Rod also brought in ‘Thriller’ and Michael sang his heart out on it. At one point during the session the right speaker burst into flames, which none of us had ever seen before. How’s that for a sign?”
(They completed the album just hours before it was due. They gave it a final listen and were shocked to find that it sounded terrible. Jackson himself was in tears. The team took two days off, reshaped the album and shortened the intro to “Billie Jean.”Thriller ended up going platinum 28 times, making it the biggest-selling non-compilation album in history.)
“There will be a lot written about what came next in Michael’s life, but for me all of that is just noise. I promise you in 50, 75, 100 years, what will be remembered is the music. It’s no accident that almost three decades later, no matter where I go in the world, in every club and karaoke bar, like clockwork, you hear ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Beat It,’ ‘Wanna Be Starting Something,’ ‘Rock With You’ and ‘Thriller.’
I wont go either
Funerals are no fun
Going to our loved ones funerals is a price we pay if we keep living. At Mr. Jones’ age with all the health issues he’s had, attending Michael Jackson’s funeral should be thought of as a privilege. Are so called “little brothers” only good for the good times? Well one thing is for sure Michael Jackson will not be attending Quincy Jones’ funeral either.