Quincy Jones, a titan of American entertainment who collaborated with Will Smith, Michael Jackson, and Frank Sinatra, has passed away at the age of 91. Arnold Robinson, Jones’ publicist, reported that Jones passed away on Sunday night while his family was there at his Bel Air neighborhood home in Los Angeles. The family released a statement saying, “We must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing tonight with full but broken hearts.
” “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.” Perhaps best remembered for producing Michael Jackson’s albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad in the 1980s—which made the singer the largest pop star of all time—Jones was perhaps the most varied pop culture personality of the 20th century. Jones also produced songs for a number of artists, including Donna Summer, Aretha Franklin, and Sinatra.
In addition, he composed multiple chart singles under his own name and was a prolific composer of music for dozens of movies. Jones was a multi-instrumentalist, especially skilled on the trumpet and piano, a big band jazz bandleader, and an arranger for jazz greats like Count Basie. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and other sitcoms were big hits for his 1990-founded TV and film production firm.
He kept innovating far into his 80s, creating Qwest TV, an on-demand music TV service, in 2017..