The celebrated American music producer, trumpeter and bandleader, Quincy Jones, has passed on. With his prodigious talent, Jones brought joy to music lovers and party goers across the world. He was a rare breed in the music industry, whose impact was felt across different music genres. In a career, which spanned seven decades, he functioned as a singer, record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Born as Quincy Delight Jones Jr. on March 14, 1933, in Chicago, the multitalented artist died on November 3, 2024 at the age of 91 at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, United States (US). Jones, who reportedly died of pancreatic cancer, was buried a week after his passing in Los Angeles.

Originally a jazz musician, Jones recognised midway into his music career that pop was taking over from the dominant American music genre, jazz, and made a switch to pop. That movement made him a bigger brand in the music industry, as he became one of the most famous producers in the world. He was a genius given to the pursuit of excellence, even if it means keeping late nights.

Her daughter, actress Rashida Jones, said, in a tribute, his dad was nocturnal his whole adult life: “He kept ‘jazz hours’ starting in high school and never looked back. When I was little, I would wake up in the middle of the night to search for him. Undoubtedly, he would be somewhere in the house, composing (old school, with a pen and sheet music).”

We remember Jones for the big hits he produced. He worked with many of the biggest names in jazz, rock, rhythm and blues, pop, and hip-hop, and excelled with many of them. He was responsible for producing three of Jackson’s best-selling solo albums: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). He also produced Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” single, which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. He produced Aretha Franklin’s song “Angel”, and songs by Dizzy Gillespie, James Ingram, Lesley Gore, Snoop Doggy Dog, among others.

Jones was thorough in his music productions. His colleague, 89-year old Herb Alpert, revealed that, while producing the Michael Jackson’s albums, he would throw away songs that fell short of the right, lingering melody. He was also a good manager of egos. One of his greatest hits, “We Are the World”, featured over 47 American superstars, including Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Dylan Thomas, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Cyndy Lauper, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, and others. He reportedly placed a sign at the entrance of the studio that read: “Leave your ego at the door.”

The USA to Africa project resulted in sales in excess of 20 million physical copies, and becoming the eighth-best-selling single of all time. It also won multiple awards, including Song of the Year and Record of the Year at the 1986 Grammy Awards, Best Group Video and Viewer’s Choice. It was nominated for Video of the Year and Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985. It also won an American Music Award and a People’s Choice Award.

His personal glory included earning more than 75 Grammy Awards nominations and winning more than 25 of them. He also won seven Academy Awards and received an Emmy Award for the theme music he wrote for the television series, Roots (1977). He also received a Kennedy Centre Honour in 2001 and the National Medal of Arts in 2010. He was inducted, in 2013, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Apart from excelling as a musician, his greatest impact was in grooming talents and producing superstars in different genres of music, including jazz, pop, hip-hop and Rn’B.

He was born in Chicago and raised in Bremerton, Washington. Jones studied the trumpet and worked locally with the pianist-singer, Ray Charles, early in his career. Determined to hone his music craft, he enrolled in the prestigious Schillinger House (now Berklee College of Music) in Boston in the 1950s before touring with Lionel Hampton as a trumpeter and arranger.

Jones worked in Paris for the Barclay label as an arranger and producer in the late 1950s. His return to the US in 1961 elevated him to the position of a director at Mercury Records. Three years later, he became a vice president at Mercury, becoming one of the first African Americans to hold a top executive position at a major American record label. In the 1960s, Jones composed music for several films, including The Pawnbroker (1964), In the Heat of the Night (1967), and In Cold Blood (1967). He will be remembered for his versatility, innovation and creativity in music production.