Quincy Jones, the music legend who collaborated with everyone from Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra, has died aged 91

Quincy Jones, the multi-talented musical titan whose legacy spanned from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing award-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at the age of 91. .

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with a full but aching heart, we have to share the news of Quincy Jones’ father and brother,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is a tremendous loss for the family, we celebrate the life she lived and know there will never be another like her.

“He was truly one of a kind and we will miss him greatly; we take great comfort and pride in knowing that love and joy, which were at the core of his being, were shared with the world through everything he created. music and love that never ends, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat forever.

Jones rose from running with a gang in the South Side of Chicago to the height of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to develop in Hollywood and amassing an extraordinary music catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song.

For many years, it was impossible to find a music lover who did not have at least one record with his name or a leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have a relationship with him.

Jones keeps company with foreign presidents and leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged recordings for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In The Heat of the Night,” organized the inauguration of President Bill Clinton and oversaw the recording of the all-star “We Are the World, ” 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa.

Lionel Richie, who wrote “We Are the World” and was one of its featured singers, would call Jones “the orchestra master.”

Jones’ work with Michael Jackson

In a career that began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 RPM, the highest honors he received were for his productions with Jackson: “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad” are albums that are close to universal. style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination helped set the stage for Jackson’s explosive talent as he transformed from child star to “King of Pop.” On classic tracks such as “Billie Jean” and “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” Jones and Jackson created a global soundscape of disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African singing. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches came from Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for vocals on the title track.

“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 and is in contention with the Eagles’ “Greatest Hits 1971-1975” as the best-selling album of all time.

“If an album is bad, everyone says ‘it’s the producer’s fault’; so if it’s good, it’s probably your ‘fault,'” Jones said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016. “Tracks don’t just suddenly appear. Producers have to have skill, experience and the ability to guide the vision to completion.”

His list of honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q,” including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received the French Legion d’Honneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award of the Italian Republic and the Kennedy Center award for his contribution to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones” and a 2018 film by his daughter Rashida Jones. The memoir made him a best-selling author.

Music is Jones’ savior

Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang at home as the first music he can remember. But she looked back sadly at her childhood, when she told Oprah Winfrey that “There are two kinds of people: those who have parents or caregivers, and those who don’t. Mrs. Jones suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world “pointless ” for Quincy. He spent a lot of time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.

“They put my hand through the fence with a switchblade, man,” he told the AP in 2018, showing a childhood scar.

Music saved him. As a child, he learned that his Chicago neighborhood had a piano and he continued to play the piano. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 years old and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to a lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room near the stage. There was a piano on the stage.

“I went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled at the moment,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I started to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was for me. Forever.”

Within a few years, he was playing the trumpet and befriended a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became his lifelong friend. He was talented enough to win a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton asked him to tour with his band. Jones later worked as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teenager, he supported Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.

“We have the best jazz band on the planet, but we’re really starving,” Jones told Musician magazine. “That’s when I discovered that there’s music, and there’s a music business. If I’m going to survive, I have to learn the difference between the two.”

Jones, businessman

As a music executive, he overcame racial barriers by becoming a vice president at Mercury Records in the early 60s. In 1971, he became the first black music director for the Academy Awards ceremony. The first film he produced, “The Color Purple,” received 11 Oscar nominations in 1986 but, to his disappointment, did not win.

In partnership with Time Warner, he created Quincy Jones Entertainment, which included the pop-culture magazine Vibe and Qwest Broadcasting. The company was sold for $270 million in 1999.

“My philosophy as a businessman always comes from the same roots as my personal credo: Take talented people on their own terms and treat them fairly and with respect, no matter who they are or where they come from,” Jones wrote in his autobiography. .

Jones, the epitome of versatility

He’s comfortable with almost any type of American music, whether setting Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” to a mesmerizing rhythm, swinging and soulful flute, or opening a delicious production of Charles’ soulful “In the Heat of the Night.” tenor sax solo. He worked with jazz giants (Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington), rappers (Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J), crooners (Sinatra, Tony Bennett), pop singers (Lesley Gore) and rhythm and blues stars (Chaka Khan, rapper). and singer Queen Latifah).

In “We are the World”, the performers include Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen. He co-wrote hits for Jackson – “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)” – and Donna Summer – “Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger) – and had songs sampled by Tupac Shakur, Kanye West and other rappers. He even created the theme song for the sitcom “Sanford and Sons.”