LEGENDARY music producer and entertainer Quincy Jones has said 'Ireland is so racist it's frightening.'
Jones, also known as 'Q', is an American musician, music and film producer, and composer who has worked in the entertainment industry for 60 years.
His extensive back catalogue includes work with Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Prince, Tupac Shakur and Ella Fitzgerald and friendships with Stevie Wonder and Oprah Winfrey amongst others.
Jones, 84, has also worked closely with U2 frontman Bono on humanitarian projects.
Speaking to this month's GQ magazine, Jones pulls out a book published a few years ago filled with photos and memories from his life, and speaks about the time Bono invited him to come to the Vatican in 1999 to meet Pope John Paul.
"All the guys in the Vatican had these Vatican black shoes," Jones recalls, but not the Pope.
"He had on some burgundy wingtips, man, with thin tan rib socks, man.
"We had to go and kiss his hand before we left. And when I kissed his hand, I looked down and saw those shoes and it just fell out of my mouth.
"I said, 'Oh, my man's got some pimp shoes on.' And he heard me."
'Isn't that sacrilegious, telling the Pope he has pimp shoes?' the interviewer asks.
"Oh, hell no. He's just a man. I didn't tell him... Yeah [he heard me]. When he died, I grabbed USA Today, and Bono said, 'Quincy said he had some lovely loafers on.'
"[Bono]'s a great guy. I stay at his castle in Dublin, because Ireland and Scotland are so racist it's frightening.
"He said, 'Trying, Quincy, to assimilate, but it's not coming easy.' So I stay in his castle."
The 84-year-old also spoke about his present and his future: "I never been this busy in my life. We're doing ten movies, six albums, four Broadway shows, two networks, business with the president of China, intellectual property. It's unbelievable, man."
You can read the full interview here.
See More: Bono, Featured, Ireland, Irish, Newslettertop, Quincy Jones, Racism
