Jill Jones
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| Jill Jones | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Jill Jones | |
| Born | ?? | |
| Origin | ??, United States | |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Soul | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
|
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, drums and percussion, keyboards | |
| Years active | 1989 | |
| Label(s) | Paisley Park |
|
| Associated acts |
Prince |
|
| Website | Official website | |
Jill Jones is an American singer/songwriter. Her mother is an African American and her father is an Italian (from issue no. 39 of UPTOWN magazine). [1] She began singing her career as a backup vocalist for Teena Marie, who opened for Prince during his Dirty Mind tour. Prince met Jill Jones through Teena Marie and, because he liked her voice, Jones became a backup vocalist for Prince from 1982 onward, providing vocals for his 1999 album under just her initials J.J.. She also was featured in the "1999" and "Little Red Corvette" music videos (as well as the racy unreleased video for "Automatic") and she had a bit part in Purple Rain and a more-than-cameo appearance in the sequel Graffiti Bridge where she takes off an undergarment to end a conflicting scene with Prince.
Her debut album was the self-titled Jill Jones (1987), released on Prince's Paisley Park label, which Prince mostly co-wrote with Jones. Upon its release, her debut album received positive reviews from critics, although it was not a commercial success. The album has been out of print for many years and mint editions of Jill Jones on CD or vinyl fetch prices of several hundred dollars on music retailer websites such as GEMM.
Several demos were recorded for a second album on Paisley Park, and a video was filmed for the track "Boom Boom", but an album never surfaced. In 1993, she released the dance single "Bald" on Flying Records. Jones finally released a second album entitled Two in 2001, with instrumentalist Chris Bruce. Though Prince aided in the production of her first album, there was no input from Prince on the second one, which was more pop-rock orientated.
Jones also did backing vocals for Apollonia 6 and recorded the notorious Prince-written single "G-Spot". She also sang lead vocals on Japanese artist Ryuichi Sakamoto's single "You Do Me" from his 1990 album Beauty, and contributed a version of Blondie's "Call Me" to a Giorgio Moroder tribute album. In addition, Jones wrote and co-produced the song "The Great Pretender" for Lisa Lisa. She was also lead vocalist for the band Baby Mother, who recorded an album in 1995 for London Records, which remains unreleased. In 1996 she toured performing co-lead vocals as part of Chic with Nile Rogers and Bernard Edwards before his death, and can be heard on the 1999 Chic release "Live At The Budokan".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] Singles
- 1987 "Mia Bocca" b/w "77 Bleeker St."
- 1987 "G-Spot" b/w "Baby Cries (Ay Yah)"
- 1987 "For Love"
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