Music legend Quincy Jones has died aged 91
Music titan Quincy Jones – who worked with artists such as Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles – has died aged 91.
His publicist Arnold Robinson confirmed the news, sharing a statement from Jones’ family which read: “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’s 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.”
No cause of death was provided as the family stated Jones was ‘truly one of a kind’.
“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,” the statement continued.
“Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’s heart will beat for eternity.”
Jones achieved an incredible music career, picking up a whopping 28 Grammy Awards out of 80 nominations.
While the music legend landed many incredible credits, he’s arguably biggest achievement came as a producer of Jackson’s iconic Thriller album.
On top of that, he composed the soundtrack to the classic 1969 film The Italian Job, while overseeing the 1985 charity single ‘We Are The World’.
Thriller certainly provided Jones with his biggest payday, with the album selling a massive 20 million copies in 1983 alone.
In an interview with the Library of Congress in 2016, Jones spoke about the legacy Thriller left in the world of music and the work that went into it.
He said: “If an album doesn’t do well, everyone says ‘it was the producer’s fault’; so if it does well, it should be your ‘fault’ too.
“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.”
Prior to his incredible music career, Jones had quite a troubled upbringing, which saw his mother be admitted into a mental health hospital.
Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones spent much of his childhood on the streets getting into all kinds of bother.
Speaking of a scar from his childhood, the music producer told the Associated Press in 2018: “They nailed my hand to a fence with a switchblade, man.”
Thankfully, music was able to save Jones, with his love for the industry beginning when he played the piano for the first time.