Quincy Jones, the influential music producer and composer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and hundreds of other stars, has died. He was 91.
Arnold Robinson, Jones’ publicist, said Jones died Sunday night at his home in Bel Air surrounded by family, according to the Associated Press.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” Jones’ family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Over the course of his career spanning more than 70 years, Jones won 28 Grammy Awards from 80 nominations as well as two honorary Academy Awards, along with an Emmy for his score of the miniseries Roots. Considered a colossus of entertainment with his contributions to genres including jazz and hip-hop, Jones left an indelible mark on American music, film, and television.
After entering the arts as a jazz trumpeter, Jones rose to become one of the most influential figures in pop. He was perhaps best known to many for his collaborations with Michael Jackson, beginning with his production of Jackson’s 1979 album Off the Wall. Its sequel, Thriller (1982), which he also produced, remains the best-selling album of all-time.
In 1985, Jones produced and arranged the charity song “We Are the World.” The song—which featured over 40 singers including Jackson, Bob Dylan, and Diana Ross—raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
He co-produced The Color Purple soon after, the Steve Spielberg-directed adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel. Jones also wrote the score for the movie—which helped catapult Oprah Winfrey to stardom and which was nominated for 11 Oscars the following year—two decades after his first film score, for Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker, in 1964.
Jones also wrote the music for Best Picture Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night (1967)—one of more than 35 movies featuring a Jones soundtrack. Through his Quincy Jones Entertainment company, Jones also produced hit TV shows including the sitcoms The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and In the House. His production talents were even sought out in the political arena, with Jones organizing Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration concert in 1993.
Jones was married three times—including to the actress Peggy Lipton—and had seven children by five mothers. One of his six daughters, The Office star Rashida Jones, made a documentary about him which debuted on Netflix in 2018.
In 1974, Jones was almost killed by two brain aneurysms. After the first, his friends feared he wouldn’t survive and held a memorial concert for him in Los Angeles—an event which featured the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles paying tribute to his legacy. Jones also attended the event with his neurologist.
“I basically attended my own funeral,” Jones wrote reflecting on the memorial in 2018, shortly before a concert marking his 85th birthday in London. He added that he was no longer able to play the trumpet after his aneurysms, but he didn’t let his ailment stop him from “pursuing other passions.”
“If I sat around feeling sorry for myself, I would’ve never gone on to do “Thriller”, “We are the World”, “The Color Purple”, or anything else that happened post ‘74,” Jones added.
