Music legend Quincy Jones has died
The musician and producer Quincy Jones has died. He died in Los Angeles at the age of 91.
Jones produced artists such as Michael Jackson and Nana Mouskouri and created the sounds for films such as “The Color Purple”.
The musician and music producer Quincy Jones has died. He was considered a titan of the industry, produced global hits such as Michael Jackson’s albums “Thriller” and “Bad”, and worked with greats such as Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Nana Mouskouri. Now Jones has died at the age of 91.
He died in his house in Bel Air in Los Angeles surrounded by his family, as his spokesman Arnold Robinson announced. “Today we have to deliver the news of the death of our father and brother Quincy Jones with a full but broken heart,” the family said in a statement. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he lived and know that there will never be another like him.”
Love of music since childhood
Jones was a member of a street gang on the South Side of Chicago in his youth and rose from there to the highest spheres of show business. He was born in Chicago in 1933 and grew up in difficult circumstances. Of all things, a break-in laid one of the foundations for his career in the world of music.
In his memoirs, Jones himself described how he and his friends broke into a leisure center. There he discovered a stage in a room and a piano on it. “That’s where I began to find peace. I was eleven. I knew that was it for me. Forever,” he says in his 2001 autobiography “Q”.
Jones learned to play the trumpet and became friends with Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was talented enough to receive a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Lionel Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones then worked as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teenager he supported Billie Holiday. In his mid-20s he went on tour with his own band.
Working across musical genres
As a music manager, Jones became vice president at Mercury Records in the early 1960s. In 1971 he became the first black musical director of the Oscars.
In his long career, Jones arranged records for world stars such as Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. The album “Thriller”, produced for Michael Jackson, sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone and is considered the best-selling album of all time alongside the Eagles’ album “Greatest Hits 1971-1975”.
In addition to blues, jazz and pop, Jones worked across many different musical styles, including with rappers such as Snoop Dogg and Queen Latifah and rhythm and blues stars such as Chaka Khan. He organized former US President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration ceremony and directed the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa.
Jones also wrote the soundtracks for films such as “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night.” In 1985, he worked on the film adaptation of the novel “The Color Purple” – as a producer and by writing the Oscar-nominated music, including the track “Don’t Make Me No Never Mind” recorded with John Lee Hooker.
Jones received numerous honors and awards for his work over the course of his life: including 28 Grammys, two honorary Oscars and an Emmy. He also received the French Legion of Honor, the Rudolph Valentino Award of the Italian Republic, and an award from the Kennedy Center for his contribution to American culture.
Quincy Jones dies
The producer worked with superstars such as Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, among others. Jones died at the age of 91.
His press spokesman Arnold Robinson announced that Jones died on Sunday evening in his home in the Bel Air district of Los Angeles surrounded by his family.
In a statement, the family said: “Tonight, it is with a full but broken heart that we must deliver the news of the death of our father and brother Quincy Jones.” And continued: “Although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he lived and know that there will never be another like him.”
Quincy Jones leaves behind an immense legacy: It ranges from producing Michael Jackson’s historic album “Thriller” to writing award-winning film and television music to working with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other artists, including the popular German pop singer Nana Mouskouri.
The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”, including 27 Grammys (now 28), an honorary Oscar (now two) and an Emmy. He also received the French Legion of Honor, the Rudolph Valentino Prize of the Italian Republic and an honor from the Kennedy Center for his contribution to American culture.
Quincy Jones rose from the gangs in Chicago to the highest spheres of show business, became one of the first black executives in Hollywood and amassed a gigantic music catalog.
Quincy Jones celebrated his greatest successes with Michael Jackson. He produced his mega albums “Off the Wall”, “Thriller” and “Bad”. Jones helped Jackson develop his explosive talent as he developed from child star to “King of Pop”.
With classics 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, jazz and African songs. Their albums broke all records worldwide.
Jones was married three times and leaves behind a total of seven children: six daughters and a son. His daughter Kenya Kinski-Jones is the result of a relationship with the actress Nastassja Kinski, daughter of Klaus Kinski.
