Miss Jones

Tarsha Nicole Jones, known by her professional name Miss Jones, is a former R&B artist and radio personality from New York from Hot 97. She debuted as an R&B singer in 1994 and released her debut album The Other Woman in 1998. At Hot 97, she was a sidekick on the Star and Buc Wild morning show and later hosted her own morning show, Miss Jones in the Morning, until June 2008.

Early life

Jones graduated with honors from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, having majored in classical music. She also has a bachelor's degree in music from Syracuse University. After graduating from college, she worked as a long distance operator.^[1]

Career

Music

Jones met rapper Doug E. Fresh, who admired her vocal skills and invited her to his Get Fresh Crew tour. She began performing on recordings by such hip-hop artists as Big Pun, AZ, and Common.^[1] In 1994, her singles "Where I Wanna Be Boy" and "Don't Front" became popular. Her debut album, The Other Woman, was released in 1998, as Jones quit performing to work for New York City urban radio station WQHT.^[2]

Radio and Controversies

In January 2005, she played a song titled "Tsunami Song", mocking "We Are the World" and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The song used lyrics referring to child slavery and racial slurs.^[3] As protests grew, Jones defiantly played the song a second time on January 21. Jones and her crew were suspended indefinitely on January 25, and Hot 97 donated what would have been her pay to tsunami relief efforts.^[4] Hot 97 fired cast member Todd Lynn and producer Rick Delgado on February 3.

She wrote an autobiography, Have You Met Miss Jones?: The Life and Loves of Radio's Most Controversial Diva, in 2007, published by Random House.

On June 28, 2008,a pregnant Miss Jones' contract expired. Radio show Big Boy's Neighborhood, hosted by Big boy and MTV VJ Liz Hernandez, succeeded Jones's former morning show.^{[citation needed]} As of September 2009 Miss Jones is now at radio station WUSL-FM, a.k.a. Power 99 in Philadelphia hosting the Jonesy in The Morning show.

Bibliography

• Jones, Tarsha. Have You Met Miss Jones?: The Life and Loves of Radio's Most Controversial Diva. New York: Random House: 2007. ISBN 0345497481.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References