NEWS: Music Icon Quincy Jones has Passed Away at 91

A legendary figure in American entertainment has passed away.

Quincy Jones, the iconic musician/songwriter/record, television, and film producer/overall entertainment industry titan with Disney ties passed away on Sunday, November 4th at the age of 91.

According to a statement from Jones’s family released through publicist Arnold Robinson, “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.”

Originally a Chicago native, Jones turned to music at a young age. He once wrote of his first experience perfuming, “That’s where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”

Jones would tour with his own Jazz band as well as playing music with legends like Billie Holiday before transitioning into owning as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger, and producer. From the late 1960s through the end of the century, Jones was involved behind the scenes of several major musical accomplishments including working with Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Tony Bennett), Lesley Gore, Chaka Khan, and Queen Latifah.

However, his best known musical work came with Michael Jackson, a relationship which began while Jones was working on the soundtrack for The Wiz, in which the singer appeared. Jones worked closely with the singer throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, cowriting several hit songs and producing the albums Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad, all of which were record-breaking gargantuan successes that defined the “King of Pop’s” career.

Along with Jackson, Jones was also one of the key figures behind the charity smash hit “We Are the World.” Referred to by co-songwriter and performer Lionel Richie as as the “master orchestrator” of the track, Jones helped write the song and oversaw the gargantuan recording sessions which included dozens of artists including Jackson, Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, and Bob Dylan among others.

It was also through his relationship with Jackson that Jones became involved in working with Disney Imagineering. Jones co-wrote and produced the track “Another Part of Me” which appeared in Captain EO, the 3D sci-fi film starring Jackson which ran at several Disney parks from the mid-80s to the early 90s, and again in the 2010s following Jackson’s death.

Beyond music production, Jones was a major player in Hollywood throughout most of the last 50 years. He composed scores for over 30 films, including The Pawnbroker, In the Heat of the Night, and In Cold Blood, produced The Color Purple, and executive produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a vehicle to facilitate Will Smith’s move into acting. Jones even appeared as himself in several projects, including introducing the “Rhapsody in Blue” sequence in Disney’s Fantasia 2000.

Over the course of his career, Jones received many accolades including 28 Grammys, an honorary Academy Award (a second of which he was scheduled to receive next month, an Emmy, France’s Legion d’Honneur, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy, and a Kennedy Center tribute for his contributions to American culture. He was also an advocate for Civil Rights and HIV and Aids research.

Jones, who had seven children and three wives over his long life, is survived by his daughters Rashida Jones (a well-known actress best known for portraying Ann Perkins on Parks & Recreation), 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.

Our thoughts are with Jones’ family and loved ones at this time.