Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Musician and producer Quincy Jones – best known for his work on Michael Jackson’s Thriller – died at the age of 91 on Nov. 3.

His publicist Arnold Robinson confirmed that the 28-times Grammy winner had “passed away peacefully” at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” his relatives 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.”

READ MORE: Paul McCartney Called Quincy Jones a ‘Crazy Motherf—er’ for Insulting the Beatles

In a 75-year career, Chicago-born Jones won 28 Grammys and was once described as one of the 20th century’s most important jazz musicians by Time magazine. A student of what would become the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he’d started out as a jazz arranger for artists including Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, before crossing over to work in the pop world too.

He produced Lesley Gore’s four million-selling hits of the ‘60s – “It’s My Party,” “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” “She’s a Fool” and “You Don’t Own Me.” In 1968 he became the first African American to be nominated for two Oscars in the same year, for his song “The Eyes of Love” and his score for movie In Cold Blood.

Along with producing three Jackson albums – Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad – he helmed the1985 charity single “We Are the World,” featuring 46 of the biggest music stars of the era. He also composed around 50 movie and TV soundtracks, and produced on groundbreaking 1985 movie The Color Purple. His 1962 composition “Soul Bossa Nova” became the theme for 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Quincy Jones’ Work Ethic Came From Hard Childhood

In a 2018 interview with GQ, Jones said his approach to work was a result of growing up without a mother after she suffered severe mental illness and was institutionalized. In addition he’d grown up in the street gangs of Chicago – once having being stabbed in the hand and neck – and wanted to remove himself from that environment.

he reported that he’d never been more focused in his life, explaining: “I stopped drinking two years ago because I had diabetes II. And it’s the best thing I ever did. My mind’s so clear now… the curiosity’s at an all-time high.”

He revealed he was fighting dementia “like a warrior” by making as much use of his brain as possible. “The muses come out at midnight,” he said of his work ethic. “No emails, no faxes, no calls… I’ll write music.

“Life’s an amazing journey, isn’t it, man? Every day I think about it. It’s just something else. I love every step… They be thinking I’m 84 and retired and all that shit. They wrong, man. Oh baby! I am never retiring!”