Quincy Jones has died at the age of 91. The music legend, who won a host of Grammy Awards in his 75-year-career, passed away last night at his Los Angeles home.
The death of the songwriter and record producer, famed for his work with Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, was confirmed by his publicist. Arnold Robinson released a statement confirming that Jones, who scored The Italian Job and a host of other films, had died at his home in the American city's Bel Air area surrounded by family.
It read: "Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones' passing. 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.”
The father-of-seven was dad to The Office, Parks and Recreation, Toy Story 4 and I Love You, Man star Rashida Jones, fashion model Kenya Jones, and music and film producer Quincy Jones III. The Mirror reports Jones became one of the first black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassed a huge musical catalogue, working on Michael Jackson's historic 'Thriller' album.
He arranged records for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzegerald and composed the soundtracks for Roots and In the Heat of the Night. Quincy also organised President Bill Clinton's first inaugural celebration. The songwriter and composer oversaw the iconic recording of the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa, We Are The World.
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Singer Lionel Richie previously called him the "master orchestrator". His career, which began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, saw his greatest accolades likely come from his productions with Jackson: Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad were albums that had a near-universal style and appeal.
Quincy’s versatility and creativity helped ignite the explosive talents of Jackson as he transitioned from child star to the "King of Pop". On such classic tracks as Billie Jean and Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough, Quincy and Michael crafted a global soundscape out of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B, jazz and African chants.
Quincy was the person who enlisted Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo Beat It and used Vincent Price's voice for the voiceover in Thriller. The hit album quickly rose up the charts in 1983, selling more than 20 million copies and has been vying with the Eagles' "Greatest Hits 1971-1975" for the title of best-selling album ever.
Quincy once talked about his role in a conversation with the Library of Congress in 2016. He stated: "If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says ‘it was the producers fault’; so if it does well, it should be your ‘fault,’ too."
He also said: "The tracks don’t just all of a sudden appear. The producer has to have the skill, experience and ability to guide the vision to completion."
Quincy was born on March 14, 1933, to a bank officer and a semi-professional baseball player. He rose to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores.
In 1968, he became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for The Eyes of Love from the film Banning.
He sits third in the list of all-time Grammy Award wins, behind Beyoncé and Sir Georg Solti, having won 28 awards from 80 nominations, and picking up a Grammy Legend Award in 1992.
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