, the multitalented whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson's historic "Thriller" album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.
Jones' publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family. Jones was to have received an later this month.
鈥淭onight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones鈥� passing," the family said in a statement. 鈥淎nd 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.鈥�
Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassing an that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. For years, it was unlikely to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with his name on it, or a leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have some connection to him.
Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for "Roots" and "In the Heat of the Night," organized President Bill Clinton's first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of 鈥淲e Are the World,鈥� the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote 鈥淲e Are the World" and was among the featured singers, would call Jones 鈥渢he master orchestrator.鈥�
In a career which began when records were still played on platters turning at 78 rpm, top honors likely go to his productions with Jackson: 鈥淥ff the Wall,鈥� 鈥淭hriller鈥� and 鈥淏ad鈥� were albums near-universal in their style and appeal. Jones鈥� versatility and imagination helped set off the explosive talents of Jackson as he transformed from child star to the 鈥淜ing of Pop.鈥� On such classic tracks as 鈥淏illie Jean鈥� and 鈥淒on鈥檛 Stop 鈥楾il You Get Enough,鈥� Jones and Jackson fashioned a global soundscape out of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For 鈥淭hriller,鈥� some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing 鈥淏eat It鈥� and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.
than 20 million copies in 1983 alone and has contended with the Eagles鈥� 鈥淕reatest Hits 1971-1975鈥� among others as the best-selling album of all time.
鈥淚f an album doesn鈥檛 do well, everyone says 鈥榠t was the producers fault鈥�; so if it does well, it should be your 鈥榝ault,鈥� too,鈥� Jones said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016. 鈥淭he tracks don鈥檛 just all of a sudden appear. The producer has to have the skill, experience and ability to guide the vision to completion.鈥�
The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography 鈥淨,鈥� including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for 鈥淩oots.鈥� He also received France鈥檚 Legion d鈥橦onneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy and a Kennedy Center tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, 鈥淟isten Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,鈥� and a 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. His memoir made him a best-selling author.
Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, once telling Oprah Winfrey that 鈥淭here are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don鈥檛. Nothing鈥檚 in between.鈥� Jones鈥� mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem 鈥渟enseless鈥� for Quincy. He spent much of his time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.
鈥淭hey nailed my hand to a fence with a switchblade, man,鈥� he told the AP in 2018, showing a scar from his childhood.
Music saved him. As a boy, he learned that a Chicago neighbor owned a piano and he soon played it constantly himself. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room nearby with a stage. On the stage was a piano.
鈥淚 went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled on it for a moment,鈥� he wrote in his autobiography. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.鈥�
Within a few years he was playing trumpet and befriending a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was gifted enough to win a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones went on to work as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teen, he backed Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.
鈥淲e had the best jazz band on the planet, and yet we were literally starving,鈥� Jones later told Musician magazine. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.鈥�
As a music executive, he overcame racial barriers by becoming a vice president at Mercury Records in the early 鈥�60s. In 1971, he became the first Black musical director for the Academy Awards ceremony. The first movie he produced, 鈥淭he Color Purple,鈥� received 11 Oscar nominations in 1986. (But, to his great disappointment, no wins). In a partnership with Time Warner, he created Quincy Jones Entertainment, which included the pop-culture magazine Vibe and Qwest Broadcasting. The company was sold for $270 million in 1999.
鈥淢y philosophy as a businessman has always come from the same roots as my personal credo: take talented people on their own terms and treat them fairly and with respect, no matter who they are or where they come from,鈥� Jones wrote in his autobiography.
He was at ease with virtually every form of American music, whether setting Sinatra鈥檚 鈥淔ly Me to the Moon鈥� to a punchy, swinging rhythm and wistful flute or opening his production of Charles鈥� soulful 鈥淚n the Heat of the Night鈥� with a lusty tenor sax solo. He worked with jazz giants (Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington), rappers (Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J), crooners (Sinatra, Tony Bennett), pop singers (Lesley Gore) and rhythm and blues stars (Chaka Khan, Queen Latifah).
On 鈥淲e are the World鈥� alone, performers included Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. He co-wrote hits for Jackson 鈥� 鈥淧.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)鈥� 鈥� and Donna Summer 鈥� 鈥淟ove Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger) 鈥� and had songs sampled by Tupac Shakur, Kanye West and other rappers. He even composed the theme song for the sitcom 鈥淪anford and Son.鈥�
Jones was a facilitator and maker of the stars. He gave Will Smith a key break in the hit TV show 鈥淭he Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,鈥� which Jones produced, and through 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� he introduced Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg to filmgoers. Starting in the 1960s, he composed more than 35 film scores, including for 鈥淭he Pawnbroker,鈥� 鈥淚n the Heat of the Night鈥� and 鈥淚n Cold Blood.鈥�
He called scoring 鈥渁 multifaceted process, an abstract combination of science and soul.鈥�
Jones鈥� work on the soundtrack for 鈥淭he Wiz鈥� led to his partnership with Jackson, who starred in the 1978 movie. In an essay published in Time magazine after Jackson鈥檚 death, in 2009, Jones remembered that the singer kept slips of paper on him that contained thoughts by famous thinkers. When Jones asked about the origins of one passage, Jackson answered 鈥淪ocrates,鈥� but pronounced it 鈥淪O-crayts.鈥� Jones corrected him, 鈥淢ichael, it鈥檚 SOCK-ra-tees.鈥�
鈥淎nd the look he gave me then, it just prompted me to say, because I鈥檇 been impressed by all the things I saw in him during the rehearsal process, 鈥業 would love to take a shot at producing your album,鈥欌�� Jones recalled. 鈥淎nd he went back and told the people at Epic Records, and they said, `No way 鈥� Quincy鈥檚 too jazzy.鈥� Michael was persistent, and he and his managers went back and said, `Quincy鈥檚 producing the album.鈥� And we proceeded to make 鈥極ff the Wall.鈥� Ironically, that was one of the biggest Black-selling albums at the time, and that album saved all the jobs of the people saying I was the wrong guy. That鈥檚 the way it works.鈥�
Tensions emerged after Jackson鈥檚 death. In 2013, , claiming he was owed millions in royalties and production fees on some of the superstar鈥檚 greatest hits. In a 2018 interview with New York magazine, he called Jackson 鈥渁s Machiavellian as they come鈥� and alleged that he lifted material from others.
Jones was hooked on work and play, and at times suffered for it. He nearly died from a brain aneurysm in 1974 and became deeply depressed in the 1980s after 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� was snubbed by Academy Awards voters; he never received a competitive Oscar. A father of seven children by five mothers, Jones described himself as a 鈥渄og鈥� who had countless lovers around the world. He was married three times, his wives including the actor Peggy Lipton.
鈥淭o me, loving a woman is one of the most natural, blissful, life-enhancing 鈥� and dare I say, religious 鈥� acts in the world,鈥� he wrote.
Along with Rashida, Jones is survived by daughters Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.
He was not an activist in his early years, but changed after attending the 1968 funeral of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and later befriending the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Jones was dedicated to philanthropy, saying 鈥渢he best and only useful aspect of fame and celebrity is having a platform to help others.鈥�
His causes included fighting HIV and AIDS, educating children and providing for the poor around the world. He founded the Quincy Jones Listen Up! Foundation to connect young people with music, culture and technology, and said he was driven throughout his life 鈥渂y a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism.鈥�
鈥淟ife is like a dream, the Spanish poet and philosopher Federico Garcia Lorca said,鈥� Jones wrote in his memoir. 鈥淢ine鈥檚 been in Technicolor, with full Dolby sound through THX amplification before they knew what these systems were.鈥�
____
AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton and former AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
Hillel Italie, The Associated Press
