Legendary Music Producer Quincy Jones Passes Away

Quincy Jones, the iconic musician and producer who helped create some of the greatest songs and albums of all-time has passed away. The New York Times reports that Jones passed away on Sunday in his Bel-Air home at the age of 91.

Jones was responsible for producing some of the most popular and recognized tracks of all-time including Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, Frank Sinatra’s L.A. Is My Lady, and many more. He won 28 Grammy Awards for his work, third on the all-time list of most winners, with 80 nominations. In addition, he had seven Academy Award nominations, not only for his scores but also as a producer on The Color Purple, as well as an Emmy Win for composing the music on Roots and a Tony Award for producing the musical revival of The Color Purple. His Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1995 Oscars makes him one of 27 EGOT winners in history.

Born in Chicago, Jones moved with his family to Seattle when he was 10 where he began to develop skills as a musician via the trumpet. He played with a National Reserve band at the age of 14 and went to Seattle University on a scholarship before transferring to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He played with a traveling jazz band in Europe at the age of 20 under bandleader Lionel Hampton and in 1956 he took a temporary job at CBS’s Stage Show, where he performed in the studio band backing for Elvis Presley and others.

Jones toured with jazz orchestras in the 1950s and worked then with his big band, the Jones Boys, before working as musical director of Mercury’s New York division after he ended up in financial straits and ended up rising to the position of vice president of the company. He was the first Black man to hold that position at a white-owned label.

Jones would end up scoring his first pop hit in 1963 with the Leslie Gore song “It’s My Party,” and the year after he scored his first film when Sidney Lumet asked him to do so for The Pawnbroker. He became an in-demand composer for films and would go on to compose soundtracks for over 40 films and shows including In The Heat of the Night, In Cold Blood, The Italian Job, The Out-of-Towners, Sanford and Son, The Getaway, Roots and The Color Purple.

Jones also worked as a producer on several film and TV projects such as Color Purple, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Lost On Earth, MadTV, Stalingrad and the 50th Grammy Awards.

His legacy, however, will always be his music where he produced Michael Jackson’s first three solo albums in Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad. He also used his influence with artists to put together the lineup for “We Are The World,” the charity single that remains the eighth-best selling single of all-time. He produced the soundtrack to The Wiz and his 1962 song “Soul Bossa Nova” is known to film fans today as the theme song for the first Austin Powers film.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends and many, many fans of Mr. Jones. The music world would not be the same without him.