Musical titan Quincy Jones, the composer and producer who added his tasteful polish to recordings by everybody from Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, has died, in accordance with his representatives. He was 91.
Jones died Sunday evening at his residence in Bel Air, California, surrounded by his kids, siblings and different relations, his publicist instructed NCS in an announcement.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the Jones household stated within the assertion. “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. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
A renowned jazz and pop musician, Jones was additionally a prolific cross-genre arranger, conductor, report label govt and civil rights advocate. His expertise and drive led to an virtually unparalleled profession in entertainment.
His lengthy and assorted record of credit embody composing the rating for the Oscar-winning movie, “In the Heat of the Night,” producing Michael Jackson’s blockbuster “Thriller” album and gathering dozens of pop and rock stars to report the 1985 charity single “We Are the World.”
Born in Chicago to a carpenter father and a mom who suffered from psychological sickness, Jones developed a love of music early on and took up the piano.
His household ultimately moved to Seattle, Washington, the place Jones started taking classes from famed horn participant Clark Terry.
He additionally met and turned shut buddies with a then-unknown pianist named Ray Charles. The pair would take pleasure in a lifelong friendship.
A teenaged Jones started performing with jazz bands, and his expertise at composing and arranging music drew the eye of bandleader Lionel Hampton.
Jones was solely 15 when Hampton invited him to tour with the group, one thing Hampton’s spouse, Gladys, put a cease to instantly.
“I got on the band bus right away, and Gladys got on and said, “Hamp, what’s that child doing on the bus?” Jones recalled in an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts. “And I was so upset. And she said, ‘Get him off here. Make him go back to school. We’ll call him later when he gets his schooling.’”
Jones heeded her recommendation, completed college and earned a scholarship to Schillinger House (now referred to as Berklee College of Music) in Boston, from which he graduated in 1951.
After commencement, he headed out on tour with Hampton and his band.
Thus started a storied a profession which discovered Jones quickly arranging and recording for such legends as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and his buddy Ray Charles. Bandleader Lionel Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and different giants additionally tapped the younger Jones for his or her European excursions.
In 1961, Jones was employed by Mercury Records as their artists-and-repertoire director. He made historical past three years later when he was promoted to vp, making him the primary African-American man to carry such a place inside a white owned report label.
He had his first pop hit with Leslie Gore’s 1963 single “It’s My Party,” which shot to No. 1. Jones additionally labored with the likes of Sinatra and Peggy Lee throughout his time with the label.
That identical 12 months discovered him scoring what could be the primary of many Grammys, with the preliminary one being for the association the Count Basie Band track “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
The Sixties additionally started Jones composing movie soundtracks, together with “In The Heat of the Night” and “In Cold Blood.”
He labored with A&M Records from 1969 to 1981 and fashioned his personal report label, Qwest.
In 1982. Jones had considered one of his most well-known collaboration when he produced Jackson’s best-selling album “Thriller.”
Three years later, he referred to as on Jackson and a number of different stars for the charity single “We Are the World.” That identical 12 months he discovered success on the large display screen with producing the Steven Spielberg-directed movie “The Color Purple.”
Jones additionally had successful on the small display screen with and the tv collection “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” which starred his mentee Will Smith.
Jones delved into the world of publication in 1993, when he based the music/cultural journal Vibe, which he bought in 2006.
A mind aneurysm in 1974 triggered Jones to quickly lighten his workload. He mirrored on his well being scare years later in a social media publish.
“While operating for 7.5 hours, my doctors discovered a second aneurysm that was ready to blow, so they had to schedule a second operation. During this time, it didn’t look too promising, so my friends planned a memorial service for me at The Shrine in LA, & I basically attended my own funeral,” Jones wrote. “Man, everyone was there…Sidney Poitier, Sarah Vaughan, you name it. It was special to see so many people there to celebrate what would’ve been my 41 years of life.”
In photos: Music legend Quincy Jones
Over the years, he had three marriages and seven kids.
Jones was married to his highschool sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957 to 1966, and the couple had had one daughter, Jolie.
In 1967, he married Swedish mannequin Ulla Andersson, and they’d two kids, Martina and Quincy Jones III, earlier than divorcing in 1974.
That identical 12 months Jones married actress Peggy Lipton, a union which lasted till 1990, and produced two daughters, actresses Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones.
He additionally had a daughter, Rachel, with dancer Carol Reynolds, and a daughter – vogue mannequin Kenya Kinski-Jones – with actress Nastassja Kinski.
Jones didn’t decelerate personally or professionally in his later years. In 2014, he produced the documentary “Keep on Keepin’ On” about his mentor, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry.
Reflecting on his personal profession that 12 months, Jones instructed Rolling Stone, “I never thought about it until I hit 80, but I have been blessed to work with every major music star in the history of America — including Louie Armstrong.”
“You can’t plan that,” Jones stated. “You can’t say, ‘Mr. Sinatra, I want to work with you.’ No. You have to wait until he calls you.”
In his 2022 e book, “12 Notes On Life and Creativity,” Jones mirrored on the essence of his life’s work.
“Creativity is one of the most beautiful gifts we possess,” Jones wrote. “If utilized properly, not only does it serve as an outlet, but it also holds the power to transform heartache into something beyond a singular sentiment.”