Jones worked with giants of the business, producing Michael Jackson's 'Thriller,' overseeing 'We Are the World' and touring with Count Basie.
Quincy Jones, the music titan whose legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson's Thriller to writing prize-winning film scores, has died at 91.Quincy Jones, a hitmaking producer and longtime powerhouse in the music industry, died on Sunday. He was 91.
Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassing an extraordinary musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. For years, it was unlikely to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with his name on it, or a leader in the entertainment industry and beyond who did not have some connection to him.
In a career which began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, top honors likely go to his productions with Jackson: "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad" were albums near-universal in their style and appeal. Jones' versatility and imagination helped set off the explosive talents of Jackson as he transformed from child star to the "King of Pop.
Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, once telling Oprah Winfrey that "There are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don't. Nothing's in between." Jones' mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem "senseless" for Quincy.
Within a few years he was playing trumpet and befriending a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was gifted enough to win a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones went on to work as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teen, he backed Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.
He was at ease with virtually every form of American music, whether setting Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" to a punchy, swinging rhythm and wistful flute or opening his production of Charles' soulful "In the Heat of the Night" with a lusty tenor sax solo. He worked with jazz giants , rappers , crooners , pop singers and rhythm and blues stars .
Tensions emerged after Jackson's death. In 2013, Jones sued Jackson's estate, claiming he was owed millions in royalties and production fees on some of the superstar's greatest hits. In a 2018 interview with New York magazine, he called Jackson "as Machiavellian as they come" and alleged that he lifted material from others.
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