The US record and television producer Quincy Delight Jones Jr. passed away at the age of 91 after a career spanning more than 70 years.
Jones’ spokesman, Arnold Robinson, revealed that he passed away on Sunday night while his family was there at his Bel Air neighbourhood home in Los Angeles.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement.
“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.”
Jones collaborated with many well-known figures in the entertainment business, including as Will Smith, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Michael Jackson.
Being the producer of Michael Jackson’s iconic “Thriller” record is one of his most well-known accomplishments. The project is one of the best-selling albums of all time, having sold over 20 million copies in 1983 alone.
The 1985 charity album “We Are The World” was recorded with an all-star cast under the direction of the music composer and lyricist.
Jones was born on Chicago, Illinois’s South Side on March 14, 1933. Before working on pop music and movie soundtracks, he rose to fame in the 1950s as a jazz conductor and arranger.
For the song “The Eyes of Love” from the movie “Banning,” Jones became the first African American to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 1968.
Jones was the first African American to serve as the Academy Awards’ musical director and conductor in 1971. He was the first African American to get the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy in 1995.
He won 28 Grammy Awards out of 80 nominations and was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
