Quincy Jones, a legendary record producer and songwriter who worked with several musical greats, died over the weekend in his California home. The enormity of the loss of Quincy Jones is on full display on social media, most especially the X social media platform.
Quincy Jones was born on March 14, 1933, in Chicago, Ill. Music became a part of Jones’ life at a young age under the guidance of his mother and a next-door neighbor. The idea of becoming a professional bloomed when Jones was a teenager, crossing paths with a blind pianist and singer by the name of Ray Charles who was just a couple of years his senior.
In the early 1950s, Jones, who was a trumpet player early on, studied for a short while at the Schillinger House facility, now known today as the Berklee College of Music. At the age of 20 in 1953, Jones hit the road as a trumpeter and arranger for Lionel Hampton. This opened doors for Jones to become an arranger for Dinah Washington, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie, and others. In 1956, Jones joined Dizzy Gillespie’s band as a trumpeter and became its musical director. In that same year, Jones released his first album as a band leader.
Jones’ ear for music and talents as an arranger created a pathway for him to join Mercury Records as its A&R director and in 1964, he was named a vice president at the label, becoming one of the top Black executives in music at the time. Jones would continue to work as an arranger for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Billy Eckstine and moved into composing music for the film industry.
After suffering a brain aneurysm, Jones briefly stepped away from the music industry but returned and found himself drawn to producing pop records. Jones created his record label, Qwest, in 1980. He would also become a film producer in 1985, helping bring The Color Purple to life along with creating the score for the award-winning film.
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Among Jones’ several achievements, his work with the late Michael Jackson remains notable to this day. Jones was the producer of Jackson’s Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad which all were massive successes and added to the legacy of both Jones and Jackson alike. During this time, Jones also produced the star-studded fundraising “We Are The World” single. Jones also dabbled in bringing television shows to fruition, serving as a producer for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In 1993, Jones founded Vibe magazine and owned the publication until 2006.
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Jones has been awarded several honors, including the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2011, the Ahmet Ertegun Award in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, seven Oscar nominations, the Los Angeles Press Club Visionary Award in 2014 to count just a handful of his accolades.
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In the Hip-Hop sphere, tracks that Jones produced have been the sonic backdrop to acts such as De La Soul, Nas, 2Pac, The Pharcyde, Mobb Deep, LL COOL J, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar, and more. Jones also embraced Hip-Hop as a producer, working with Big Daddy Kane and Kool Moe Dee on his Back On The Black album in 1989, and Kid Capri, LL COOL J, Funkmaster Flex, Heavy D, and more on Q’s Jook Joint in 1995.
Quincy Jones is survived by seven children: Rashida Jones, Kidada Jones, Kenya Kinski-Jones, Quincy Jones III, Jolie Jones Levine, Martina Jones, and Rachel Jones. Jones is also survived by his grandchildren. Isaiah Jones Koenig, Quincy Renzo Delight Jones IV, and Nea Jones.
On X, the passing of Jones is the number one trending topic and we’ve got the reactions listed down below.
Quincy Jones was 91.
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