Music legend Paul McCartney’s surprisingly tender response to Quincy Jones’ Beatles attack

Nov 11, 2024
Jones made the controversial statement in 2018  to the New Yorker magazine where he criticised both Ringo Starr's drum playing and friend Paul McCartney's musical abilities. Image source: AP

The recent passing of Quincy Jones has caused many in the entertainment industry to reflect on the man called one of the best record producers of all time.  But for Jones the feeling wasn’t mutual and one resurfaced interview reveals how the Thriller producer thought how the Beatles were “the worst musicians in the world.”

Jones made the controversial statement in 2018  to the New Yorker magazine where he criticised both Ringo Starr’s drum playing and friend Paul McCartney’s musical abilities.

In the no-holds-barred interview, the music icon  called the legendary British band, “no-playing motherf—–s,”  and called McCartney the worst base player in the world but reserved most of his attack for Starr.

“And Ringo [Starr]? Don’t even talk about it,” he told the magazine.

“I remember once we were in the studio with George Martin, and Ringo had taken three hours for a four-bar thing he was trying to fix on a song. He couldn’t get it.”

For many people, a public attack on their musicianship would be enough to end a friendship, yet surprisingly McCartney had only good things to say about the We Are The World star.

However the Eleanor Rigby  singer cleared up any differences between himself and Jones and explained it was all fine with him in a  GQ article that same year.

““I love this guy. He’s totally out of his tree, ” McCartney told GQ.

“But the great thing was, he rang me after this.

“The joke is, I love Quincy, even after this.”

Jones sadly passed away on Sunday, November 3 at his Bel Air home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

Known for a legacy of unparalleled achievements, Jones’ crowning moment came as the producer of Michael Jackson’s albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad in the 1980s, which helped make the singer the biggest pop star of all time.

For his outstanding achievements in the music industry, Jones was recognised with a Grammy Legend award in 1992 for his “ongoing contributions and influence in the recording field.”