Rashida Jones Says Music Career Was the 'Last Thing' She Wanted with Quincy Jones as Her Dad: 'I'll Never Be Good Enough'
Jones, who has made her name as an actress, says she still loves music, and has even sung backup on a pair of Maroon 5 albums
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Quincy Jones and Rashida Jones attend the "Celeste and Jesse Forever" dinner on January 20, 2012 in Park City, UtahQuincy Jones is widely considered one of the greatest music producers of all time — so forgive his daughter, Rashida Jones, for not wanting to follow in his shadow.
The actress opened up about her decision not to pursue a career in music like her famous dad, 91, on the SmartLess podcast, telling hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett that Quincy’s legacy is simply too legendary.
“My dad’s a musical genius. That’s like, the last thing I want to do, is try my hand at that,” said Jones, 48. “But I love it. Like, I have a deep ache for music and I just don’t ever feel like I’m good enough to do it. Like I’ll never be good enough to do it, so I just don’t.”
Though Jones made her name as an actress in shows like Parks and Recreation, she has dabbled in music, and even sang backup on Maroon 5’s first two records, Songs About Jane and It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.
“I love it so much and I kind of like, sing for fun,” she said. “I’ve written for fun, and I’ve sung backup on some albums and things like that… I can write [music], my reading is limited.”
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Rashida Jones and dad Quincy Jones at an event in West Hollywood in February 2019Quincy, who started his career as a jazz musician, has 28 Grammy Awards to his name, and is known for his collaborations with stars like Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, including Jackson’s iconic 1982 album Thriller. In 2018, Jones — whose mother is the late actress and model Peggy Lipton — wrote and directed a documentary called Quincy about her father’s life and career.
“He’s so well-documented, he’s so accomplished, that it’s almost impossible to spend any time storytelling who he is as a person. You have to cover so much ground with just what he’s contributed to the world and culture,” she said of her documentary. “I wanted to do something that felt like it captured his personality, ‘cause nothing ever has… My dad is a beast, and he has cheated death so many times. Ninety-one and still crushing it.”
Though Jones may not have chosen a career in music, she did choose a partner in the industry; she has been dating Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig since 2016, and the two share a 5-year-old son named Isaiah.
“I’m sure we’ll get married at some point, but we basically are,” she recently told The New Yorker.
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