Quincy Jones, a maestro of American euphony and a titan of the amusement manufacture who influenced astir each fashionable genre, produced landmark albums and earned a grounds 80 Grammy Award nominations, died Sunday, his publicist said.
He was 91.
Jones "passed distant peacefully" Sunday nighttime astatine his location successful Bel Air portion surrounded by his family, according to his publicist, Arnold Robinson.
"Tonight, with afloat but breached hearts, we indispensable stock the quality of our begetter and member Quincy Jones' passing. And though this is an unthinkable nonaccomplishment for our family, we observe the large beingness that helium lived and cognize determination volition ne'er beryllium different similar him," Jones' household said successful a statement.
In a prolific vocation that spanned much than 70 years, Jones established himself arsenic a behind-the-scenes unit and a talented creator successful his ain right, moving arsenic an arranger, composer, songwriter and performer.
He near indelible imprints connected jazz, pop, hip-hop and dozens of movie and tv soundtracks, moving intimately with immoderate of the astir illustrious names successful the American songbook, from Count Basie and Dinah Washington to Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon.
He produced Michael Jackson's smash grounds "Thriller," arsenic good arsenic Steven Spielberg's adaptation of "The Color Purple" and the NBC sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" — projects that helped bolster his bequest arsenic a hit-maker and media mogul.
Jones received galore awards and accolades, including designation astatine the John F. Kennedy Center Honors successful 2001, a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama successful 2010 and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame successful 2013. In 2021, helium joined James Brown and Otis Redding arsenic 1 of the archetypal 3 "foundational inductees" of the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame successful Atlanta.
"As a maestro inventor of philharmonic hybrids, helium has mixed pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, African, and Brazilian euphony into galore dazzling fusions, traversing virtually each medium, including records, unrecorded performances, movies and television," Obama said successful his remarks.
Jones won 28 Grammys, putting him 2nd connected the database of all-time winners. He nabbed an Emmy successful 1977 for penning the taxable for the archetypal occurrence of the miniseries "Roots" and aboriginal received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award astatine the Oscars successful 1994.
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was calved successful Chicago connected March 14, 1933, the lad of Quincy Delight Jones, a semiprofessional shot subordinate and carpenter, and Sarah Frances, a slope serviceman and flat analyzable manager.
Jones was archetypal exposed to euphony by his mother, who sang spiritual songs. She aboriginal suffered a schizophrenic breakdown; Jones' parents yet divorced, and his begetter remarried.
In the aboriginal 1940s, Jones and his household relocated to Bremerton, Washington, wherever helium studied the trumpet and worked with a fledgling pianist/singer by the sanction of Ray Charles, who was said to person helped transportation Jones to prosecute his involvement successful the philharmonic arts.
Jones studied concisely astatine the eminent Schillinger House (now known arsenic the Berklee College of Music) successful Boston successful the 1950s. He past started touring with the jazz large Lionel Hampton arsenic a trumpeter and arranger.
In time, helium earned a estimation arsenic a skilled freelance arranger. He worked with Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie, Clifford Brown, Gigi Gryce (later known arsenic Basheer Qusim), Oscar Pettiford, Dinah Washington and a big of different jazz luminaries.
He toured with Dizzy Gillespie's large set successful 1956, traveling crossed the Middle East and South America, and recorded his archetypal medium arsenic a bandleader the aforesaid year.
He worked for a spell astatine the Barclay grounds statement successful Paris and past led an all-star large set for the European tally of Harold Arlen's "blues opera" successful 2 acts, "Free and Easy."
Jones returned to the U.S. successful 1961, becoming an artists-and-repertoire manager for Mercury Records. Three years later, helium was elevated to a vice president presumption there, making him 1 of the archetypal Black Americans with an executive-level presumption astatine a large U.S. grounds company.
In the 1960s, Jones arranged and produced albums portion besides establishing himself arsenic a go-to composer for movie scores, archetypal with the soundtrack for Sidney Lumet's "The Pawnbroker" and aboriginal for Norman Jewison's "In the Heat of the Night" and Richard Brooks' "In Cold Blood."
He went connected to make sleek, stylish scores for the archetypal mentation of "The Italian Job" (1969), the satirical dramedy "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice," the Steve McQueen thriller "The Getaway" and the Robert Redford caper "The Hot Rock."
Jones' adjacent halt was the A&M grounds label, wherever helium worked from 1969 to 1981, taking a little hiatus arsenic helium rebounded from a encephalon aneurysm successful 1974.
Jones' aesculapian information was believed to beryllium truthful dire that his friends and household began preparing for his death. He yet attended his ain memorial work alongside comedian Richard Pryor, histrion Sidney Poitier and vocalist Marvin Gaye.
In 1975, Jones founded his ain grounds label, Qwest Productions, signing artists similar Patti Austin and the British radical New Order. Three years later, helium produced the soundtrack for Lumet's movie philharmonic "The Wiz," a retelling of "The Wizard of Oz" starring Jackson and Diana Ross.
Jones reached a commercialized zenith arsenic the shaper of a trio of Jackson records — "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" — that each sold tens of millions of copies and electrified the popular civilization landscape.
"Thriller" — with its smash-hit singles, electrical blend of genres and MTV-ready aesthetics — rocketed up the income charts. It remains 1 of the all-time best-selling albums, a landmark that endures contempt the troubling dimensions of Jackson's idiosyncratic life.
Jones was a prolific philanthropist. He helped enlistee a who's who of performers — Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder — for "We Are the World," a 1985 foundation azygous produced to rise wealth for victims of famine successful Ethiopia.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, Jones branched disconnected into different media, producing Spielberg's mentation of the Alice Walker caller "The Color Purple" (1985), arsenic good arsenic the beloved tv amusement "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," starring Will Smith. He besides launched the euphony mag Vibe.
In his aboriginal years, Jones — by past a legendary fig successful the amusement manufacture and beyond — remained productive successful the arts and philanthropic activities.
He published a memoir, "Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones," successful 2001, and successful 2018 helium was the taxable of a Netflix documentary directed by 1 of his daughters, the histrion Rashida Jones.
English (US)