Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois in November of 1954. Her family moved to Phoenix in 1960 where she lived until the age of 14. In the spring of 1969, Rickie Lee ran away to California, hitch-hiking up and down Highway One. She ended up in juvenile detention in Detroit, and was returned to her father in Kansas City, who then took her back to her mother's in Olympia, Washington,where the family resided until she moved to Venice, California, in 1973.

By 1977, she was performing in clubs as a solo act, with the occasional band gig in Hollywood. It was on the Venice Boardwalk that she met her songwriting partner Alfred Johnson. They worked Thursdays in September at the Ala Carte, performing their own songs including "Company," "Youngblood," "Weasel and the White Boys," "Easy Money" and "The Moon is Made of Gold," a song written by her father Richard Jones, the son of Vaudevillian Peg Leg Jones.

Rickie Lee was "discovered" by Warner Brothers A&R producer Lenny Waronker (Randy Newman, James Taylor) who produced her first two and most successful records with his partner Russ Titleman (Eric Clapton). Rickie's self-titled debut, as well as her follow up Pirates remain to this day, two of the most influential recordings in the singer-songwriter genre.

With her trend-setting debut, and performances punctuated by the infamous red beret, fishnet gloves and bold sexual persona, the fashion of Rickie Lee Jones became a mainstay of the 80s to be followed and reinterpreted by other 80s icons. Jones' unmistakable clear alto tone, vibrato-less, half spoken voice became a benchmark of pop singing today. Her choices, too, impacted the way that pop music would be perceived. While other singer-songwriters simply did not record other people's songs, Jones defied these confines and recorded jazz ballads on her LPs (Girl at her Volcano). Her refusal to be fitted into a genre made her own career a difficult one to promote, but opened the door for many who came after her.

She has recorded thirteen full-length studio albums since her debut in 1979, and remains one of the most potent singers performing today. While she has influenced many aspects of popular culture, from restaurant chains to fashion icons, Rickie Lee is still regarded as something of a cult figure. Her image graced the cover of Rolling Stone magazine twice in two years between 1979 and 1981, though few have heard the range of her work.

Rickie Lee Jones, incorporating her own take on fashion and sexuality, merged ideas that simply had not yet been merged: sex and song writing. The enigmatic Miss Jones continues to shape her own genre. Intuition and emotion are the raw stuff of her performances; her tools are jazz and pop, but her genius is her own emotional landscape and her ability to convey it for others to experience.