Music legend Quincy Jones, Feb. 18, 2013, in Los Angeles. © Jefferson Graham, Jefferson Graham / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
(Los Angeles, CA) — Legendary music icon Quincy Jones passed away Sunday night in California. He was 91. His publicist says Jones died surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles. Tributes from people touched by Jones’ six-plus-decade career were quick to pour in. Actor Michael Caine, who stared in the Jones-scored 1969 movie “The Italian Job” called him a titan in the musical world and someone he was lucky to have known. Rapper LL Cool J wrote that Jones was a father figure when he really needed one and that music would not be music without him.
Jones was born on the South Side of Chicago and at age 14 he introduced himself to then-16-year-old Ray Charles, who he cites as an inspiration for his own music career. He began traveling around the country on tour with different acts playing the trumpet, including in the studio band that supported Elvis Presley.
Jones’ career in the entertainment industry spanned over 60 years and he worked with artists such as Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson. Jones produced Michael Jackson’s all-time best-selling album Thriller, and later organized the all-star charity recording of “We Are the World.” He received a record of 80 Grammy Award nominations, 28 of which he went on to win, and he later received the Grammy Legend Award in 1992
He also became a movie and TV producer, working on the film, “The Color Purple” and the television series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”.
