Rickie Lee Jones: A Look Back at the Hip Singer-Songwriter Who Took the Late '70s by Storm

In the late '70s, Rickie Lee Jones was one of the coolest musicians around. The singer-songwriter made a splash with her self-titled 1979 debut album, which spawned the jazzy hit single "Chuck E.'s in Love." The album went platinum and earned Jones the Grammy for Best New Artist. While she remains best known for her early work, Jones has gone on to have a long and eclectic career. Here's a look back at how she came into the scene and what she's been up to in recent years.

A jazzy origin story

Rickie Lee Jones' genre-bending style stood out from the majority of popular music in the '70s, and she found fame quickly. She grew up around the arts, with a musician father and vaudevillian grandparents, and at 21, she started performing jazz gigs in California. In 1977 she met singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who she dated for two years. Waits was known for his quirky voice and evocative storytelling, and Jones was often likened to a female version of him.

In 1979, Jones released her debut album, and the single, "Chuck E.'s in Love," made it to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. One of the other songs on the album, "Coolsville," earned her the nickname of "the Duchess of Coolsville" — a title that would later be used for her 2005 career retrospective album.

The famed cover of Jones' debut, featuring a portrait of her wearing a beret and smoking a cigarette, established her hipster image. The beret became her trademark, and in a music world increasingly dominated by flashy disco, her beatnik vibe and jazz-influenced vocal style made a bold statement.

In an interview, Jones talked about her distinctive way of singing, saying, "I’m so far behind the beat, and that’s hard in pop music, because pop music and folk music and every other thing really would like you to sing pretty much in the first couple of beats. But I love coming in late and singing whatever I feel like singing when I get there! Jazz is the perfect place for me to do that."

That mix of slightly off-kilter vocals and cinematic lyrics filled with smoky bars and film noir-like figures still inspires listeners today, and after the success of her debut, she won further acclaim with Pirates, a 1981 album inspired in part by her breakup with Waits, and The Magazine, a 1984 album recorded just after the musician overcame drug and alcohol addiction. She then took a hiatus after giving birth to her daughter and released Flying Cowboys, which was produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan, in 1989.

What Rickie Lee Jones has been up to recently

Jones' output isn't limited to the '70s and '80s. She's released eight albums since 2000, the most recent of which, Pieces of Treasure, came out in 2023. Jones has explored a variety of genres throughout her career, among them jazz, pop, folk, rock and R&B. Her latest album is a collection of covers from the Great American Songbook, and the classic songs are perfectly suited to her lived-in croon.

In 2021, Jones published Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour, a memoir detailing her wayward childhood, her struggle with drugs, her relationship with Tom Waits, her musical journey and much more.

Now 69, Jones has evolved as a musician and doesn't plan to slow down. In a 2023 interview, she said, "Now that I'm older, I think a lot about my age. First of all, I think about how I can still do everything I used to. How is that possible? . . . But I’m still doing what I’m doing, going into the studio. I’m at peace with my age, which makes me very happy. I feel more confident because I don’t have anything to lose. Which isn’t really true, but in a way it is."

This is definitely an attitude we can get behind, and we look forward to seeing what the Duchess of Coolsville does next.

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