Tributes flood in for music’s ‘true legend’ Quincy Jones who has died aged 91 leaving business legacy that may ‘stay on without end’
Tributes have begun flooding in for the music titan Quincy Jones who died aged 91, leaving behind a legacy that fans say will live on forever.
The Michael Jackson Thriller album producer passed away on Sunday night surrounded by his family at his home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, but no cause of death has yet been given.
Jones’ family which includes his actress daughter Rashida Jones, who played Karen Filippelli in The Office – said in a statement: ‘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.’
Now, fans across the globe have flooded social media with their personal tributes to Jones, who has left behind an incredible legacy in the music industry.
Tributes have begun pouring in for Quincy Jones who died on Sunday night surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles. Pictured: Jones attends Byron Allen’s fourth Annual Oscar Gala to Benefit Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, on February 09, 2020
Michael Jackson with Quincy Jones at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 1984. Jones passed away on Sunday night at his home, aged 91
Quincy Jones works with Michael Jackson and Steven Spielberg on the ET soundtrack in 1982
Jones with Frank Sinatra at the 21st Annual Scopus Awards on January 13, 1991 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City, California
One devastated fan wrote: ‘Farewell to Quincy Jones, the architect behind Thriller. His work with Michael Jackson redefined pop music and shaped generations. Your legacy lives on. Rest in peace, Quincy’.
Another added: ‘RIP Quincy Jones. Thank you for everything you have brought to the music world. Your legacy will live on forever.
‘RIP Quincy Jones. Let’s talk legends right here right now. The ultimate music producer, writer & composer. The GREATEST ! There will never be enough room here for a tribute on his career & achievements, this fella shaped modern music and his legacy will be there forever & a day,’ wrote a third.
Sharing a 1983 song produced by Jones and performed by James Ingram and Patti Austin ‘How Do You Keep The Music Playing’, a fan paid tribute to the star on X/Twitter.
‘My tribute to one of the greatest song writers, arrangers and producers, Quincy Jones, who has passed away at the age of 91. This song was released in 1982 on Qwest Records, produced by Quincy from the film Best Friends. Such a beautiful song,’ they wrote.
Author of The History of Jazz and Delta Blues Ted Gioia also shared a heartfelt message following the death of Jones.
‘RIP Quincy Jones, who leaves us at age 91,’ he said.
‘No musician of his generation moved so effortlessly and brilliantly between styles and settings—collaborating with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson to Miles Davis. What a remarkable career!’
X/Twitter users flooded the platform with their tributes to the late music producer
The producer was dubbed a ‘titan’ of the industry, according to one heartbroken fan
One fan said Jones’ legacy will ‘be there forever and a day’
Another social media user shared a 1982 song produced by Jones
Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones at the ‘We Are The World 25 Years for Haiti’ recording session held at Jim Henson Studios in Hollywood in February 2010
President Barack Obama presents a National Medal of Arts to Quincy Jones at the White House in March 2011
Quincy Jones at the 33rd Grammy Awards in New York in February 1991
‘RIP Quincy Jones When he wasn’t making groundbreaking albums with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, he scored movies. In the Heat of the Night, The Italian Job, The Getaway and this, Soul Bossa Nova from 1962 which Austin Powers inherited. A Legend has passed,’ BAFTA award-winning TV and film editor, The Sting shared.
One more added: ‘RIP Quincy Jones, who defined the highest level of musical genius for 5 generations.
‘Perhaps the greatest producer & soundtrack composer of all-time. The most quotable, the coolest, who made everything from Thriller to Vibe to the Fresh Prince. Who did it all, better than anyone’.
The music sensation rose to the top of show business as he became one of the first black executives to thrive in Hollywood and amassed an extraordinary musical catalogue.
He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald and composed soundtracks for Roots and In The Heat Of The Night.
Jones organised then-president Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of We Are The World in 1985 for famine relief in Africa.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote We Are the World and was among the featured singers on the charity record, would call Jones ‘the master orchestrator’.
He will likely be best remembered for his productions with Jackson, with his versatility and imagination helping set off the singer’s talents as he transformed from child star to the ‘King of Pop.’
For ‘Thriller,’ some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-fusing ‘Beat It’ and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.
Author of The History of Jazz and Delta Blues Ted Gioia called Jones’ career ‘remarkable’
BAFTA award-winning TV editor The Sting paid tribute to the ‘legend’ on X
Jones ‘did it all, better than anyone,’ one fan said
Quincy Jones and his wife Peggy Lipton hold Jones’s star which was placed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles in March 1980
Sir Elton John and Quincy Jones at the singer’s Aids Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party in West Hollywood in February 2019
Quincy Jones and Eddie Murphy at San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood in October 2019
Quincy Jones and Naomi Campbell at the American Icon Awards Gala in Los Angeles in May 2019
‘Thriller’ sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone and has contended with the Eagles’ ‘Greatest Hits 1971-1975’ among others as the best-selling album of all time.
‘If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says ‘it was the producers fault’; so if it does well, it should be your ‘fault’ too,’ Jones said in an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016.
‘The tracks don’t just all of a sudden appear. The producer has to have the skill, experience and ability to guide the vision to completion.’
As a music executive, Jones overcame racial barriers by becoming a vice president at Mercury Records in the early ’60s.
In 1971, he became the first black musical director for the Academy Awards ceremony.
The first movie he produced, ‘The Color Purple,’ received 11 Oscar nominations in 1986 – but, to his great disappointment, no wins.
He worked with jazz giants including Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, rappers including Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J, crooners such as Sinatra and Tony Bennett, pop singers including Lesley Gore, rhythm and blues stars such as Chaka Khan, and rapper and singer Queen Latifah.
Jones was also a facilitator and maker of the stars. He gave Will Smith a key break in the hit TV show ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,’ which Jones produced, and through ‘The Color Purple’ he introduced Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg to filmgoers.
Starting in the 1960s, he composed more than 35 film scores, including for ‘The Pawnbroker,’ ‘In the Heat of the Night’ and ‘In Cold Blood.’
The list of his honours and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography ‘Q’, including 27 Grammys at the time (now 28), an honorary Academy Award (now two) and an Emmy for ‘Roots.’
