How Quincy Jones Changed the Lives of Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and More

What couldn’t Quincy Jones do?

He wrote, composed and arranged music for your favorite artists and even produced films and TV shows that launched some of your favorite actors. He not only changed careers — he changed lives.

Here we break down some of the biggest acts and projects Jones worked on, from Michael Jackson’s seminal Thriller album to “We Are the World” to winning 28 Grammys, an Emmy and a Tony.

MICHAEL JACKSON

Before he met Jones while working on The Wiz, Jackson had been known for the Jackson 5 and released four solo albums that had mild success. Then they made Off the Wall and the King of Pop fully arrived. Released in 1979 around the time Jackson turned 21, the album helped him transition from young singer to critically acclaimed, matured artist. The album’s disco, funk and R&B sound resonated on the charts, helped Jackson win his first of 13 Grammys and paved the way for Thriller, one of the best-selling and highly regarded albums of all-time. Thriller, which included classics like “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” even set a record for most Grammy wins in a single night (eight).

WE ARE THE WORLD

The idea of Jackson, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan singing on one song still sounds supernatural — and Jones made it happen. “We Are the World” — the 1985 charity single he produced to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia — became a groundbreaking, international anthem and one of the best-selling singles of all-time. Written by Jackson and Lionel Richie, the song also included Ray Charles, Billy Joel, Paul Simon and Willie Nelson and found new life earlier this year through the Emmy-nominated Netflix documentary, The Greatest Night In Pop.

WILL and OPRAH

Before The Oprah Winfrey Show was picked up nationally in 1986, Winfrey found major success in The Color Purple, the first film Jones produced. Winfrey earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for playing the role of Sofia, and she says “working with Quincy changed everything for me. He has a big, open heart and treats everybody as if they’re the most important person he’s ever met … He was the first person I ever loved unconditionally.”

Will Smith had just won the inaugural best rap performance Grammy but things changed with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which Jones produced. The series ran from 1990 to 1996 and Smith frequently thanked Jones for the opportunity, calling the legend “the man who bet on me when I wasn’t even betting on myself.”

THE GREATS

Jones and Ray Charles first met as young teenage musicians. Eventually their club and wedding gigs led to official, chart-topping successes, including the No. 1 R&B and dance hit “I’ll Be Good to You.” Jones went on to compose, arrange and produce music alongside a number of greats, including Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Miles David, Dinah Washington and Frank Sinatra. 

THE SCORES

Jones has scored close to 40 films, starting with 1964’s The Pawnbroker. His other credits include The Wiz, The Slender Thread, Walk Don’t Run, In Cold Blood and In the Heat of the Night. He even worked on 2024’s Lola. Some of the TV themes Jones contributed to include Ironside, The Bill Cosby Show and Sanford and Son.

AWARDS GALORE

Before Beyoncé became the most-decorated artist in Grammy history, she set a record when she tied Jones’ 28 wins in 2021. Jones earned his first nomination at the 1961 show — the third annual Grammy Awards — and won his first award, for best instrumental arrangement, in 1964. His other wins include album of the year for Thriller and Back on the Block, record of the year for “We Are the World” and “Beat It,” best cast show album for Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music and best large jazz ensemble for Walking in Space. He’s won producer of the year three times, and in 2019 he shared the best music film award with daughter Rashida Jones for the Netflix doc Quincy, which she produced. 

And though he never won a competitive Oscar from his seven nominations, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and he became the first Black artist to earn a nomination for best original song; it was for “The Eyes of Love” from Banning at the 1968 Academy Awards. He was also nominated for best original score in that year, making him the first Black person to be nominated twice in a single ceremony. And he became the first Black person to work as musical director and conductor for the awards show in 1971.

In 1977, his work on Roots won him the Emmy for outstanding achievement in music composition for a series (dramatic underscore). He won the Tony for best revival of a musical in 2016 for The Color Purple.