{"id":408443,"date":"2026-04-24T10:53:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/408443\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:53:17","slug":"quincy-jones-once-told-me-michael-jackson-lost-his-mind-over-billie-jean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/408443\/","title":{"rendered":"Quincy Jones Once Told Me Michael Jackson ‘Lost His Mind’ Over Billie Jean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quincy Jones did more for music<\/a> than almost anyone in the biz. So it may come as a shock that the force who helped Michael Jackson create “Billie Jean” is the same guy that almost broke it.<\/p>\n

As the world prepares to see Jaafar Jackson bring the King of Pop to life in the Michael<\/a> biopic Friday, April 24, there\u2019s one raw, behind-the-scenes friction point that defines Michael\u2019s genius better than any dance move. <\/p>\n

I know, because in 2013, Quincy Jones told me himself that he thought Michael had “lost his damn mind.”<\/p>\n

My Unforgettable Night With Quincy Jones<\/p>\n

Facing The Lion\u2019s Den At The 2013 Grammys<\/p>\n

It was 2013, the night of the 55th Grammy Awards<\/a>. I was running on about two hours of sleep because I had just written the VIBE<\/a> cover story for Daft Punk and Pharrell (the “Get Lucky” year). When an invite to the legendary Quincy Jones\u2019 post-Grammys party hits your inbox, you don’t care how tired you are. You go.<\/p>\n

The late, great Quincy\u2019s parties were the stuff of legend, but they were also intimidating for me that year\u2014though not for the reasons you\u2019d expect. Quincy notoriously hated what VIBE, the magazine he founded, had become. As the Senior Editor, I was walking straight into the lion\u2019s den. Nothing a few glasses of champs couldn’t cure.<\/p>\n

He was friendly, but the man did not sugarcoat things. At his own house, Quincy told me exactly why he wasn’t a fan of the magazine’s direction. So, I made a joke about editorial gentrification struggles, because of course I did. That’s when he stopped, looked at me and said, “I like you, though.” I was in.<\/p>\n

Quincy Jones Hated ‘Billie Jean’ At First<\/p>\n

“You\u2019ve Lost Your Damn Mind, Michael Jackson”<\/p>\n

\"Jaafar
\n Jaafar Jackson as Michael Jackson smiling while wearing headphones in MichaelGlen Wilson\/\u00a9Lionsgate\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

We started talking about the old days and the reality of the creative process and the many groundbreaking albums<\/a> he and MJ made together. I asked an “off-the-record” Jackson family<\/a> question, which shall remain that way. Then I asked about the Thriller sessions, and he dropped a quote that was far rawer than the polished anecdotes you usually hear in documentaries. He told me that when Michael first brought him the demo for “Billie Jean,” Quincy\u2019s immediate reaction wasn’t “this is a #1 hit.” It was:<\/p>\n

Damn dude, this sh*t is crazy. You\u2019ve lost your damn mind. This intro is so f**king long!<\/p>\n

At the time, Quincy was worried about the 29-second bassline intro, which was definitely radio suicide. While he wanted to cut to the chase, Michael wanted to build the tension.<\/p>\n

The Scene We Need To See In Michael Jackson’s New Biopic<\/p>\n

An Epic Battle Over “The Jelly”<\/p>\n

\"Quincy
\n Screen Rant\/ Joe O’Shea<\/p>\n

As we prepare to see the Thriller era<\/a> depicted on the big screen, this is the dynamic I’m looking for. We often see Michael as the perfect, finished product, but Quincy\u2019s candid memory reminds us that even the King of Pop had to fight for his vision.<\/p>\n

Michael famously told Quincy that the long intro was “the jelly” that made him want to dance. Quincy might have thought he was crazy in 1982, but as he sat there at his party in 2013, he told the story with the kind of smirk that only comes from knowing your partner was right all along.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re heading to see Michael this weekend, keep that 29-second intro in mind. It was less creative choice, more battle for the soul of a song. As history proved, sometimes you have to ignore the experts to find the jelly.<\/p>\n

\"michael-poster.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApril 24, 2026<\/p>\n

Runtime<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t130 minutes<\/p>\n

Director<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAntoine Fuqua<\/p>\n

Writers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohn Logan<\/p>\n

Producers<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGraham King, John Branca, John McClain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quincy Jones did more for music than almost anyone in the biz. So it may come as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408444,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-408443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}