The iconic record producer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and producer Quincy Jones has passed away. Born Quincy Delight Jones Jr. on March 14, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, the multi-talented Jones passed away on Nov. 3, 2024, in Bel Air, California. He was 91.
Jones’ career is the stuff of legend and spanned a whopping eight decades. Such was the level of his fame that he was known by a single letter, “Q.” He started in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He worked with some of the most famous names in the entertainment world, including Frank Sinatra and, perhaps most notably, the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.
Some of the most notable albums Jones worked on include Louis Armstrong’s Louis (1964), Tony Bennett’s The Movie Song Album (1966), George Bendon’s Give Me the Night (1980), Ray Charles’ The Great Ray Charles (1956), The Genius of Ray Charles (1959), and Genius + Soul = Jazz (1960); Sammy Davis Jr.’s Our Shining Hour (1964), Ella Fitzgerald’s Ella and Basie! (1963), Aretha Franklin’s Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (1963), Donna Summer’s Donna Summer (1982), Sinatra’s It Might as Well Be Swing (1964), Sinatra at the Sands (1966), and L.A. Is My Lady (1984); Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall (1979), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987).
Movies Jones produced the scores for include The Pawnbroker (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Jigsaw (1968), The Italian Job (1969), Honky (1971), The Wiz (1978), The Color Purple (1985), and Lola (2024). Per IMDb, he even appeared as himself in a few, including Fantasia 2000 (1999), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Sandy Wexler (2017), Quincy (2018), The Black Godfather (2019), and Jay Sebring….Cutting to the Truth (2020).
His glittering career resulted in countless nominations for and wins of prestigious awards. Including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 1995 Academy Awards, seven other Academy Award nominations, one Emmy Award, one Tony Award, one other Tony Award nomination, and 31 Grammys, with 38 other Grammy nominations.
Is Quincy Jones’ cause of death known?
Quincy Jones’ representative, Arnold Robinson, shared a statement with Variety on behalf of his family announcing his passing, but it didn’t specify how he died. The statement read as follows:
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. 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. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
Perhaps, in due course, we’ll learn more about the details of Jones’ passing. For now, we send our heartfelt condolences to those who loved him. May he rest in eternal peace.
