Over his extraordinary seven-decade career, Quincy Jones (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) made an indelible mark as a record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. He earned 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy, a Tony Award, and nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globes.

Jones rose to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor, later producing pop hits like Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” in the early 1960s and arranging collaborations between Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. He produced Michael Jackson’s iconic albums Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). In 1985, he spearheaded the charity anthem We Are the World, which raised funds for Ethiopian famine relief.

As a film composer, Jones created scores for classics such as The Pawnbroker (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967), In Cold Blood (1967), The Italian Job (1969), The Wiz (1978), and The Color Purple (1985). He won an Emmy for his music in the miniseries Roots (1977) and a Tony for producing the Broadway revival of The Color Purple (2016).

Jones received numerous honorary accolades throughout his career, including the Grammy Legend Award (1992), Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1995), Kennedy Center Honors (2001), National Medal of the Arts (2011), Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2014), and an Academy Honorary Award (June 2024). Time magazine named him one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century.

This is our tribute to a true musical giant whose legacy will inspire generations to come.

Source:  Wikipedia