Celebrated Musician, Producer Leaves an Indelible Legacy
By Dolores Quintana
Legendary musician, music producer, film and television producer, composer of film scores, activist, and humanitarian Quincy Jones died on Sunday night, October 3, at his home in Bel Air at the age of 91.
He worked with some of music and film’s greatest talents including Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Steven Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey, and jazz greats Lionel Hampton, Ray Charles, and Dizzy Gillespie. His talents were prolific and widely varied, as he worked as an arranger and a film composer for films such as The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, The Getaway, and In Cold Blood. His record label, Qwest, established in 1980 signed a variety of artists, including New Order, the band that rose from the ashes of the post-punk band Joy Division. After a seven-decade-long career and ninety years of life, Jones has accomplishments far too numerous to mention them all with brevity.
His family released a statement that said, “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, were shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”
During a lifetime of achievements that saw him win 28 Grammy awards (from 80 Grammy nominations), France’s Legion d’Honneur, a Kennedy Center Tribune, but sadly, no competitive Oscars, one of the music industry’s first Black executives and the first Black musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards. During the Governor’s Awards ceremony this month, he was scheduled to receive his second honorary Academy Award on November 17, 2024. His first honorary Oscar was the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1994.
He is survived by Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones, and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.
