Music producer Quincy Jones poses for a portrait to promote his documentary “Quincy” during the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 7, 2018. Picture: X/@PopBase
Multi-talented music titan Quincy Jones, who worked with artists ranging from Count Basie to Frank Sinatra and reshaped pop music by collaborating with Michael Jackson, died at the age of 91.
Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, said the musician died on Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement. “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.”
Robinson did not share the cause of death.
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 catalogue that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song.
Jones kept company with presidents and world leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders.
He was also instrumental in Will Smith getting the part in “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” The would-be sitcom star auditioned for the show during a major party at Jones’ house.
He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Bill Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World,” the 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa, AFP reported.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was among the featured singers, would call Jones “the master orchestrator.
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In 2018, Jones claimed that Jackson plagiarised some of his hits.
“I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs,” Jones said in an interview full of eyebrow-raising comments published Tuesday by Vulture, the culture site of New York magazine.
“The notes don’t lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come,” the 84-year-old music veteran said.
He specifically cited “Billie Jean” — a signature song off the Jones-produced “Thriller,” the top-selling album of all time.
Jones suggested similarities between the song and disco queen Donna Summer’s “State of Independence,” which was also produced by Jones and released several months earlier in 1982.
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