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Quincy Jones Says Ray Charles Got Him Hooked On Heroin At 15

musician and producer Quincy Jones should have his own radio show with all the stories he tells about iconic figures.

Many folks are still recovering from the bombs he dropped earlier this year regarding everyone from Richard Pryor to Marvin Gaye. Now Quincy is spilling more memories from his heyday and of course, he doesn’t hold back on the specifics.

Jones recently went on The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Award Chatter” podcast and he described hanging out with his good friend Ray Charles back in the late 1940s. According to Jones, Charles introduced him to heroin at the ripe age of 15.

“After we finished at the Washington Social Club and a couple of other ones, we’d all go down to Jackson Street to the Elks Club,” he explained. “That’s where all the bebop jam sessions were. Nobody got paid. We didn’t give a damn.”

Jones continued, “When they finished playing, they’d go over in the corner and they had it on their thumb. I just snuck in the line and got me a little hit.” Jones also reiterated something he said in the past that might be of surprise.

Malcolm X was his connect for drugs.

He says he bought drugs from a young hustler in Harlem named Detroit Red, which many know to be one of Malcolm’s pseudonyms. Jones said he eventually kicked his heroin habit after five months when he was bedridden from a fall.

Jones recently told more juicy stories in his Netflix documentary Quincy, which covered his six decades in music.

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