American music producer Quincy Jones has passed away. He was 91 years old. He was best known as the producer of Michael Jackson’s landmark “Thriller” album and his collaborations with Frank Sinatra.
Music legend Quincy Jones dies
Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music legend whose vast legacy included everything from producing Michael Jackson’s landmark “Thriller” album to writing award-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists , died at the age of 91.
Jones died Sunday night in the presence of his family at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, said Arnold Robinson, his publicist.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of the passing of our father and brother, Quincy Jones,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
Jones rose to the heights of show business running gangs on Chicago’s South Side, becoming one of the first black executives to succeed in Hollywood, and amassing an extraordinary musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song . For years, it was difficult to find any music fan who did not have at least one record to his name, or any leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have some connection to him.
Jones corresponded 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 to “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night”, organized President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration. and supervised the all-star recording of the 1985 charity record “We Are the World” for famine relief in Africa.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was one of its lead singers, called Jones a “master orchestrator”.
Career begun when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, top honors probably go to Jackson with his productions: “Off the Wall”, “Thriller” and “Bad” almost universal in their style and appeal. There were albums. Jones’s versatility and imagination helped highlight Jackson’s explosive talent as he transformed from child star to “King of Pop”.
On classic tracks like “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, Jones and Jackson created a global soundscape from disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller”, some of the most memorable touches began with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a haunting voiceover on the title track.
His list of honors and awards spans 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”, including a then-high 27 Grammys (now 28), an Honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots”. . He also received the Legion d’ Honneur of France, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy, and the Kennedy Center Tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones”, and a 2018 film by daughter Rashida Jones. His memoir made him a bestselling author.
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