Quincy Jones, a longtime collaborator of Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra and a legend in the American music industry, has died. Jones was 91 at the time of his death on Sunday night. He breathed his last at his home in Los Angeles’ Bel Air.
While Jones’ publicist Arnold Robinson did not specify the cause of his death, the latter confirmed the news.
“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 family said in a statement.
Jones started his career as a jazz trumpeter and slowly made a name as an arranger. He, however, gained worldwide recognition as the producer of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. Their collaboration, for the first time, was in the movie The Wiz, where Jones worked with a 19-year-old Michael Jackson.
He also worked closely with Sinatra and reworked the singer’s Fly Me To The Moon song.
In a career spanning over seven decades, Jones won 28 Grammy Awards and was also named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
Other accolades include honorary degrees by Harvard, Princeton, Juilliard, the New England Conservatory, the Berklee School of Music and many other institutions, as well as a National Medal of Arts and a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master fellowship, as per reports.
In 1985, Jones worked with 46 American singers, including Jackson, Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen, to record We Are the World, which he also co-wrote to raise money for Ethiopia, as the country was suffering from a devastating famine then. The son was a huge hit and went on to scale the charts in both the US and the UK.
Mourning the loss, the official Instagram of Jackson posted: “The world mourns the loss and celebrates the life of Quincy Jones. Quincy was a legendary talent whose contributions to music spanned generations and genres. What Michael and he achieved over a decade-long partnership is unmatched, producing “Off the Wall,” “Bad,” and, of course, “Thriller” that remains the biggest selling album of all time. In addition, Michael, Lionel Richie and Quincy collaborated with multiple superstars to produce the charity single, “We Are The World” that raised more than $60 million to fight famine in Africa. But it was Quincy’s role as a father that was the most important to him. Condolences to all of his children. Rest in Peace, Q. You will be missed.”
