Jones produced albums (‘Thriller’), songs (“We Are the World,” “It’s My Party”), films (‘The Color Purple’) and TV shows (‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’), scored movies (‘In the Heat of the Night’) and enchanted the world with his charismatic personality.
He died Sunday night at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, surrounded by family.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said. “Although this incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
In a phenomenal career that spanned more than 60 years, Jones produced Michael Jackson’s best-selling albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad; obtained the rights to the novel The Color Purple, cast young Oprah Winfrey in Spielberg 1985 film version and received 3 Oscar nominations for his work.
He helmed the historic recording sessions for the 1985 charity single “We Are the World,” the best-selling single of all time; and produced Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit “It’s My Party.”
For television, Jones composed the theme songs for the 1969-71 Bill Cosby Show, Ironside and Sanford and Son and executive produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where he discovered Will Smith, and In the House, starring LL Cool J.
Jones survived two brain aneurysms in 1974. After the first, he wrote in his 2008 book, The Complete Quincy Jones: My Journey & Passions: “It didn’t look like I’d make it, so my friends planned a memorial. They had the concert anyway.”
With his neurologist, he attended the service at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles as Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye, Sarah Vaughan and Sidney Poitier spoke of his greatness.
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was born in Chicago on March 14, 1933, to Quincy Delight Jones Sr. and Sarah Frances Jones. His mother worked in a bank before being admitted to mental institution for schizophrenia when Quincy was 7; his father was carpenter who played semi-pro baseball. He was raised with his only full-blood brother, Lloyd.
Quincy Sr. divorced Sarah after she was institutionalized and remarried Elvera, who had three children. They then had three more of their own for an eight-sibling family.
His father in 1943 uprooted the family to Bremerton, Washington, for new job. They later moved to Seattle, where Quincy Jr. attended Garfield High School and studied music composition and playing the trumpet. That kept him out of trouble.
Jones attended Seattle University, studied music and played in the college band, but completed just one semester before transferring to Berklee College of Music in Boston on scholarship. He left college to tour with Lionel Hampton as a trumpeter and arranger for leading talents, including Charles, Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa.
His first Grammy win was for the song arrangement on Count Basie’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”
Jones signed as artist with ABC Paramount Records in 1956 and moved a year later to Paris, where he studied with music theorist Nadia Boulanger. He became the musical director for the Les Disques Barclay label. He toured Europe, working as musical director on composer Harold Arlen’s Free and Easy tour. He formed a band called The Jones Boys that was comprised of jazz artists from that show. Reviews were good, but money was scarce.
Music Vs. Music Business
“We had the best jazz band, and yet we were literally starving,” he told Musician magazine. “That’s when I discovered there was music and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.”
He collaborated with Sinatra through various TV shows and other recordings, and that led to arranging for Billy Eckstine and Peggy Lee.
“There was no gray to the man. It was either Black or white,” Jones said of Sinatra in 2001’s Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. “If he loved you, there was nothing in the world he wouldn’t do for you. If he didn’t like you, shame on your ass. I know he loved me too. In all the years working together, we never once had a contract, just a handshake.”
Jones’ solo albums gained him acclaim, including Walking in Space, Gula Matari, Smackwater Jack, You’ve Got It Bad, Girl, Body Heat, Mellow Madness and I Heard That!
Irving Green, president of Mercury Records, helped Jones secure a director position at the label. He advanced to vice president in 1961, becoming the first African-American to achieve such high post at major label.
He moonlighted as film composer, scoring Pawnbroker for Lumet, which led to his exit from Mercury for Los Angeles.
In 1968, Jones became the first Black to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year.
He and songwriting partner Bob Russell (the first African-Americans to be nominated for original song) were honored for “The Eyes of Love” from the romantic drama Banning, and his original score for In Cold Blood was nominated as well; Jones listened to the interrogation tapes of the punks who committed the murders for inspiration.
With seven Oscar nominations, he is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the African-American with the most.
In 1975, Jones founded Qwest Productions, for which he arranged and produced albums by Sinatra and other major stars.
He produced the soundtrack for The Wiz (1978), starring Jackson and Diana Ross.
He formed the label Qwest Records in 1980 as joint venture with Warner Music Group that included eclectic group of musicians, British post-punk band New Order, Joy Division, Ingram, Sinatra, Tevin Campbell, Andre Crouch, Patti Austin, Siedah Garrett, Gregory Jefferson and Justin Warfield.
The Color Purple
For The Color Purple, Jones was nominated for best picture, original score and original song — three of the drama’s 11 Academy Award noms — but the film went home empty-handed on Oscar night. He also was a producer on the 2023 remake.
He used his influences to attract the musical superstars into the A&M Studios in L.A. in 1985, leading the session for “We Are the World” by demanding that artists “check your ego at the door.” The song raised more than $63 million for Ethiopian famine relief.
In 1993, he co-founded QDE, Quincy Jones/David Salzman Entertainment, producing films, TV shows and educational entertainment and publishing two magazines, VIBE and Spin.
Jones was married to high-school sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957-66, to actress Ulla Andersson from 1967-74 and to actress Peggy Lipton of TV’s The Mod Squad (Rashida’s mom) from 1974-90. His seven children included one with dancer Carol Reynolds and another with actress Nastassja Kinski.
