Jill Jones (born July 11, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, who performed as a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s.
[1] She began a singing career at age 15 as a backup vocalist for Teena Marie, whom her mother managed.
Jones performed as backing vocalist on a number of Teena Marie's Motown albums in the early 80s and also co-wrote the songs "Young Girl In Love" from Lady T (1980) and "The Ballad of Cradle Rob and Me" from It Must Be Magic (1981).
She met Prince in 1980 at age 18, when Teena Marie was the opening act during his Dirty Mind tour.
[2] She became a backup vocalist for Prince when he invited her to the Sunset Sound recording studios in 1982, to sing backing vocals for several tracks on the album 1999.
[3][4] She had a bit part as a waitress in the film Purple Rain (1984),[2] and had an appearance in the sequel Graffiti Bridge (1990), where she takes off an undergarment to end a conflicting scene with Prince.
Jones also did backing vocals for Apollonia 6 and recorded the Prince-written single "G-Spot", which was remixed for a 12" release by Blondie's Jimmy Destri.
With the help of former Paisley Park photographer and close friend David Honl, Jones released a second album entitled Two in 2001, with instrumentalist Chris Bruce.
A collaboration with dance outfit Funky Junction resulted in the single "Someone to Jump Up", which has appeared on various Hedkandi compilation releases.