Quincy Jones, Legendary Music Producer and Composer, Dies Aged 91

Quincy Jones, the legendary producer, composer and arranger who helmed Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the biggest selling album in the history of the recorded music business, died Sunday, November 3rd at his home in Bel Air, California. He was 91 years old.

Jones’ family shared the following statement, “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.”

Jones was surrounded by his children, his siblings, and close family at the time of his death, the family statement continues.

Born March 14th, 1933, in Chicago and raised in Seattle, Jones’ contribution to popular music is off the scale. Across a career in music spanning 75 years, Jones collected 28 Grammys and moved the needle on jazz, soul, funk, and, of course, pop.

It was Jones who served as producer and conductor of the charity fundraising single, “We Are the World”, the story of which is retold for the 2024 documentary The Greatest Night in Pop.

And his production work on a triptych of Michael Jackson’s albums — Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad — is the stuff of legend. Thriller, released in 1982, became the first album in RIAA history to collection 30 platinum awards, for U.S. sales of 30 million units. Thriller spent nearly two and a half years on the Billboard 200 chart and holds a modern day record of 37 weeks at No. 1.

Thriller was nominated in a record-breaking 12 categories, and won a history-making eight, which still stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by any LP.

Quincy could play any instrument he touched. His star rose initially as a trumpet player in bands for jazz greats including Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie. As a producer and arranger, he worked with such superstars as Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, and many others.

Few artists will come to close to matching his Grammys haul, which include three producer of the year, non-classical wins, and two awards each for album of the year and song of the year. He was nominated a record 80 times since 1961.

Jones earned a Recording Academy Trustees Award in 1989, a Grammy Legend Award in 1992 and in 2007, received the special international award at the Ivor Novello Awards in London — earning the biggest cheers of the day.

Quincy had an Australian connection. In 2015, he spotted the Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, the late Indigenous singer from Australia’s Elcho Island, who he described as an “unbelievable” talent.

“I know you’re going to get blown away as much as I was when I first heard him,” he remarked at the time. “So kick back and let it all in, ’cause this is one of the most unusual and emotional and musical voices that I’ve ever heard. I want you to give it all up and check out Gurrumul.”

The late music man’s incredible career is captured in the 2018 Netflix documentary, simply titled Quincy.