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Quincy Jones, a decorated music producer behind iconic albums, has died at 91.
Jones "passed away peacefully" at his home in Bel Air, California, surrounded by his family, on Sunday evening (November 3), according to a statement shared with NPR.
"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing," the family said in the statement provided by Jones' publicist, Arnold Robinson. "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."
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was born in Chicago on March 14, 1933, but raised in Seattle. Around 12 years old, Jones would start studying trumpet and singing in a gospel group. He would continue his musical interests at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. A massive opportunity came while at the school: going on tour with Lionel Hampton. Serving mainly as the band's trumpeter and arranger, this experience would open the doors for him. By the mid-1950s, he worked with big-name artists like Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, and Ray Charles.
Jones then took his music education abroad in 1957 and landed a job with Barclay Disques, a French record company and label. The emerging producer worked with talents from Europe and America, but his career started taking off in the early 1960s.
Jones became the first Black high-level executive at a major record company when he became Vice President at Mercury Records in 1961. Another win would come in the form of his Grammy. In 1963, the well-known musician won the prestigious music award for his arrangement of Count Basie's "I Can’t Stop Loving You." This was also the time when he started dabbling in the film industry. Not only did he work on the score for Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker, but he made his debut as a film producer with Steven Spielberg's adaption of The Color Purple -- a film that would win 11 Oscar nominations.
Despite his work in the film industry, Jones didn't abandon music. In fact, his music career blew up from his work with legendary singers Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, and Celine Dion, serving as a record producer.
Thanks to this back-to-back success, Jones would continue building his media empire by creating Quincy Jones Entertainment (QJE). Under this co-venture with Time Warner. Inc., the iconic 1990s show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, among other projects, would be produced. The QJE chairman and CEO would create three magazines (VIBE, SPIN, Blaze) and Qwest Broadcasting, a minority-owned broadcasting company.
Qwest would acquire several TV stations in Atlanta and New Orleans for $167 million, effectively making it the largest minority-owned broadcasting company in the U.S. Jones served as CEO and chairman until it was sold later on. He also had a record company called Qwest Records as a joint venture with Warner Brothers, but the company shut down by 2000 and was absorbed by the media conglomerate. Jones published his autobiography in 2001, which landed on the bestsellers' list of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and more.
The music industry icon was honored with hundreds of awards, prizes, honorary degrees, and recognition throughout his life, including 27 Grammy awards, 79 Grammy nominations, seven Oscar nominations, and an Emmy. He was even named a 2001 Kennedy Center honoree for his contributions to American culture and media. A Netflix documentary about his life was released in 2018.
Jones wore many hats during his illustrious career in the entertainment industry: composer, arranger, media entrepreneur, instrumentalist, record company executive, conductor, magazine founder, and producer for film, music, and television. The legend created over 50 scores for the film and television industry, and he left his mark on some of the biggest music stars of the 1970s and 1980s. He leaves behind five children: Jolie, Quincy, Martina, Rashida, and Kidada.
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