Foley was born in Columbus, Ohio. Growing up he listened to Sly and the Family Stone, and after his mother bought him a bass (at age 12) he started playing with local bands. In 1987, he had a phone conversation with Marcus Miller, then Miles Davis's bass player, and afterward sent him a tape of his music. Weeks later he got a call from Davis, who'd heard the tape and asked Foley to send him a copy: Miles Davis was looking for a guitarist, but at that time Foley had been working on getting his bass to sound like a guitar. By May 1987 Foley was touring with Davis, and played with him until the fall of 1991.
In 1993 he played a lead bass solo on Mint Condition's R&B Top 40 hit "So Fine" and the interlude track "Gumbo" from their album From the Mint Factory.
In 1993, during his time at Motown, Foley released 7 Years Ago...Directions in Smart-Alec Music. The album included "If It's Positive".
The Cité de la Musique showed a Miles Davis exhibition from October 16, 2009, to January 17, 2010, that included Foley's "lead bass".
Foley has also toured and recorded with funk legend George Clinton and engineered for Prince.
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Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Prince featured the "Upper Room with Joe Kelley and Gi Dussault" on his official website www.npgmusicclub.com. This is the first radio show to have ever received that honor. "Musicians Reveal with Joe Kelley" has been on the radio airwaves since 1982. Joe Kelley and Gi Dussault co-host the show and are well-respected in the music business as creative air personalities and supporters of independent musicians . Our web site is located at www.musiciansreveal.com .
The show features creative music in funk, R&B, jazz, blues, rock, hip-hop, latin, and gospel. In addition, Joe Kelley has interviewed renowned musicians such as Victor Wooten, Sheila E. , Foley, Robin Duhe, Jef Lee Johnson, Jellybean Johnson, Monte Moir, Rhonda Smith, Bernie Worrell, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bland, Larry Graham, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, Steve Smith, St. Paul Peterson, JD Blair, Tori Ruffin, Kat Dyson, Eric Person, actor Jeff Daniels, Junior Giscombe, John Scofield, EC Scott, John Blackwell, Mystic Bowie, and many others.