This week, we lost a legendary icon of the culture… Quincy Delight Jones, record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, film and television producer. He passed away Sunday at the age of 91, surrounded by his loving family at his home in Bel Air.
Over his seven-decade career, he received 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards plus Kennedy Centers honors, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, many humanitarian awards, and so many more.
He’s left behind a legacy to the culture and put his imprint on just about every genre in music and entertainment. He orchestrated Count Basie’s band when they backed Frank Sinatra. He composed the theme for Sanford and Son, and scored films like In The Heat of the Night, The Italian Job, and The Color Purple. His music was also used in later films, like the Austin Powers franchise. He was the producer of Michael Jackson’s best-selling, history-making albums,Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad and brought jazz and hip-hop together for his Back on the Block album. He also produced The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and co-founded Vibe magazine.
Quincy also made history as the first African-American to become musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards in 1971. He was also the first African-American to receive the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the second-most Oscar-nominated African American, with seven nominations each.
Quincy was born on the South Side of Chicago, moving to Washington state during his childhood. During high school, he developed his skills as a trumpeter and arranger, and began playing with a band at just 14. He earned a scholarship to Seattle University in 1951, and after one semester, he transferred to what is now the Berklee College of Music in Boston on another scholarship.
Quincy was a doting father and left behind seven children with whom he had tight-knit relationships. He was married three times and had his children with five different women.
Quincy died before he could receive an honorary Academy Award later this month but his influence on American music and culture will endure.
& Remember to always celebrate your magic! xo