Quincy Jones, music titan and entertainment icon, dies aged 91

CNN
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Music titan Quincy Jones, the composer and producer who lent his tasteful polish to recordings by everyone from Ray Charles to Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, has died, according to his representatives. He was 91.

Jones “passed away peacefully this evening at his home in Bel Air, California. Mr. Jones was surrounded by his children, his siblings and his immediate family,” his publicist said in a statement to CNN.

“Tonight it is with full but broken hearts that we must share the news of the passing of our father and brother Quincy Jones,” the statement said. “And while this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he led and know there will never be another like him. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him greatly; It is a source of comfort and great pride to us to know that the love and joy that was the essence of his being was shared with the world through everything he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”

A renowned jazz and pop musician, Jones was also a prolific cross-genre arranger, conductor, record label executive and civil rights advocate. His talent and drive led to an almost unparalleled career in the entertainment industry.

His long and varied list of credits includes composing the music for the Oscar-winning film “In the Heat of the Night,” producing Michael Jackson's blockbuster album “Thriller” and gathering dozens of pop and rock stars for the recording the charity single “In the Heat of the Night” from 1985. We are the world.”

Jones was born in Chicago to a carpenter father and a mentally ill mother. He developed a love of music at an early age and began playing the piano.

His family eventually moved to Seattle, Washington, and Jones began taking lessons from famed horn player Clark Terry.

He also met and became friends with a then-unknown pianist named Ray Charles. The couple would maintain a lifelong friendship.

As a teenager, Jones began performing with jazz bands and his talent in composing and arranging music caught the attention of bandleader Lionel Hampton.

Jones was only 15 when Hampton invited him to go on tour with the group, but Hampton's wife Gladys immediately stopped him.

“I immediately got on the band bus and Gladys got on and said, 'Hamp, what's that kid doing on the bus?'” Jones recalled in an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts. “And I was so upset. And she said, “Get him out of here.” Let him go back to school. We'll call him later when he's finished school.'”

Jones followed her advice, finished school and received a scholarship to Schillinger House (now known as Berklee College of Music) in Boston, graduating in 1951.

After graduating, he went on tour with Hampton and his band.

This began a storied career in which Jones soon arranged and recorded for legends such as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and his friend Ray Charles. Bandleader Lionel Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and other giants also hired the young Jones for their European tours.

In 1961, Jones was hired by Mercury Records as artist and repertoire director. Three years later, he made history when he was promoted to vice president, becoming the first African American to hold such a position at a white record label.

He had his first pop hit in 1963 with the single “It's My Party” by Leslie Gore, which went to number 1. During his time with the label, Jones also worked with artists such as Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee.

That same year, he received the first of many Grammys, the first being for his arrangement of the Count Basie Band song “I Can't Stop Loving You.”

In the 1960s, Jones also began composing musical soundtracks, including “In The Heat of the Night” and “In Cold Blood.”

He worked with A&M Records from 1969 to 1981 and founded his own label, his own record label Qwest.

In 1982, Jones had one of his most famous collaborations when he produced Michael Jackson's best-selling album Thriller.

Three years later, he gathered Jackson and a number of other stars for the charity single “We Are the World.” That same year, he found success on the big screen with the production of the Steven Spielberg-directed film The Color Purple.

Jones also had success on the small screen with the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which starred his mentee Will Smith.

Jones delved into the world of publishing in 1993 when he founded the music/culture magazine Vibe, which he sold in 2006.

A brain aneurysm in 1974 caused Jones to temporarily reduce his workload and focus on spending time with his family.

Over the years he has had three marriages and seven children with five different women.

Jones was married to his high school sweetheart, Jeri Caldwell, from 1957 to 1966 and the couple had one daughter, Jolie.

In 1967 he married Swedish model Ulla Andersson and they had two children, Martina and Quincy Jones III, before divorcing in 1974.

That same year, Jones married actress Peggy Lipton, a union that lasted until 1990, and gave birth to two daughters, actresses Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones.

He also had a daughter, Rachel, with dancer Carol Reynolds and a daughter – model Kenya Kinski-Jones – with actress Nastassja Kinski.

Jones did not slow down either personally or professionally in his later years. In 2014, he produced the documentary “Keep on Keepin' On” about his mentor, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry.

Reflecting on his own career this year, Jones told Rolling Stone: “I never thought about it until I turned 80, but I've been lucky enough to work with every great music star in American history – including Louie Armstrong.”

“You can’t plan for that,” Jones said. “You can’t say, ‘Mr. Sinatra, I want to work with you.' No. You have to wait for him to call you.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.