Quincy Jones now an official Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced this week that the Garfield High School grad Quincy Jones will be inducted in 2013.

Jones lived on 22nd Ave near Garfield for a time, and his alma mater’s Performing Arts Center now bears his name.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Jones the National Medal of Arts. In the Hall of Fame, he will officially join many of the artists he worked with, including Michael Jackson, Ray Charles and Miles Davis.

When asked for his thoughts on being inducted, the 79-year-old told the Associated Press, “Well, it’s about time, man.”

From the AP:

In many ways, the 2013 class balances the scales, though not nearly soon enough for some new members.

“Well, it’s about time, man,” Jones said late Monday night in an interview from his home in Los Angeles. “But I promise you I’m not sitting around worrying about it.”

Jones was less forgiving of the long wait he had. The 79-year-old entertainment icon’s fingerprints are all over the hall of fame. He pops up often at key moments in rock `n’ roll history and was even Ray Charles’ presenter during the soul singer’s induction at the inaugural 1986 ceremony. He never expected to wait so long for his own entry.

“I was pissed off about it at first because I saw how it was going down and who was going in and who wasn’t,” Jones said with a deep laugh. “But I’m used to it, man. I’ve been around a long time, and I know how it works, you know. It’s still an honor, man.”

The other 2013 inductees are: Heart (also from the Seattle area), Rush, Randy Newman, Public Enemy, Donna Summer, Albert King and Lou Adler.

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