CNN
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Musical titan Quincy Jones, the composer and producer who added his tasteful polish to recordings by everybody from Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, has died, based on his representatives. He was 91.
Jones died Sunday evening at his residence in Bel Air, California, surrounded by his kids, siblings and different relations, his publicist advised CNN in a press release.
“Tonight, with full however damaged hearts, we should share the information of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the Jones household mentioned within the assertion. “And though that is an unbelievable loss for our household, we have a good time the good life that he lived and know there’ll by no means be one other like him. He’s actually one among a sort and we are going to miss him dearly; we take consolation and immense pleasure in understanding that the love and pleasure, that have been the essence of his being, was shared with the world by all that he created. By means of his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ coronary heart will beat for eternity.”
A famend jazz and pop musician, Jones was additionally a prolific cross-genre arranger, conductor, document label govt and civil rights advocate. His expertise and drive led to an virtually unparalleled profession in leisure.
His lengthy and diverse checklist of credit embody composing the rating for the Oscar-winning movie, “Within the Warmth of the Evening,” producing Michael Jackson’s blockbuster “Thriller” album and gathering dozens of pop and rock stars to document the 1985 charity single “We Are the World.”
Born in Chicago to a carpenter father and a mom who suffered from psychological sickness, Jones developed a love of music early on and took up the piano.
His household ultimately moved to Seattle, Washington, the place Jones started taking classes from famed horn participant Clark Terry.
He additionally met and have become shut pals with a then-unknown pianist named Ray Charles. The pair would take pleasure in a lifelong friendship.
A teenaged Jones started performing with jazz bands, and his expertise at composing and arranging music drew the eye of bandleader Lionel Hampton.
Jones was solely 15 when Hampton invited him to tour with the group, one thing Hampton’s spouse, Gladys, put a cease to straight away.
“I obtained on the band bus straight away, and Gladys obtained on and mentioned, “Hamp, what’s that little one doing on the bus?” Jones recalled in an interview with the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts. “And I used to be so upset. And she or he mentioned, ‘Get him off right here. Make him return to highschool. We’ll name him later when he will get his education.’”
Jones heeded her recommendation, completed college and earned a scholarship to Schillinger Home (now referred to as Berklee Faculty of Music) in Boston, from which he graduated in 1951.
After commencement, he headed out on tour with Hampton and his band.
Thus started a storied a profession which discovered Jones quickly arranging and recording for such legends as Rely Basie, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and his pal Ray Charles. Bandleader Lionel Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie and different giants additionally tapped the younger Jones for his or her European excursions.
In 1961, Jones was employed by Mercury Data as their artists-and-repertoire director. He made historical past three years later when he was promoted to vp, making him the primary African-American man to carry such a place inside a white owned document label.
He had his first pop hit with Leslie Gore’s 1963 single “It’s My Occasion,” which shot to No. 1. Jones additionally labored with the likes of Sinatra and Peggy Lee throughout his time with the label.
That very same yr discovered him scoring what can be the primary of many Grammys, with the preliminary one being for the association the Rely Basie Band track “I Can’t Cease Loving You.”
The Nineteen Sixties additionally started Jones composing movie soundtracks, together with “In The Warmth of the Evening” and “In Chilly Blood.”
He labored with A&M Data from 1969 to 1981 and shaped his personal document label, Qwest.
In 1982. Jones had one among his most well-known collaboration when he produced Jackson’s best-selling album “Thriller.”
Three years later, he known as on Jackson and a number of different stars for the charity single “We Are the World.” That very same yr he discovered success on the massive display screen with producing the Steven Spielberg-directed movie “The Coloration Purple.”
Jones additionally had a success on the small display screen with and the tv sequence “The Recent Prince of Bel-Air,” which starred his mentee Will Smith.
Jones delved into the world of publication in 1993, when he based the music/cultural journal Vibe, which he offered in 2006.
A mind aneurysm in 1974 brought on Jones to briefly lighten his workload. He mirrored on his well being scare years later in a social media put up.
“Whereas working for 7.5 hours, my docs found a second aneurysm that was able to blow, so that they needed to schedule a second operation. Throughout this time, it didn’t look too promising, so my pals deliberate a memorial service for me at The Shrine in LA, & I mainly attended my very own funeral,” Jones wrote. “Man, everybody was there…Sidney Poitier, Sarah Vaughan, you title it. It was particular to see so many individuals there to have a good time what would’ve been my 41 years of life.”
In photos: Music legend Quincy Jones
Over time, he had three marriages and 7 kids.
Jones was married to his highschool sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957 to 1966, and the couple had had one daughter, Jolie.
In 1967, he married Swedish mannequin Ulla Andersson, they usually had two kids, Martina and Quincy Jones III, earlier than divorcing in 1974.
That very same yr Jones married actress Peggy Lipton, a union which lasted till 1990, and produced two daughters, actresses Rashida Jones and Kidada Jones.
He additionally had a daughter, Rachel, with dancer Carol Reynolds, and a daughter – style mannequin Kenya Kinski-Jones – with actress Nastassja Kinski.
Jones didn’t decelerate personally or professionally in his later years. In 2014, he produced the documentary “Carry on Keepin’ On” about his mentor, jazz trumpeter Clark Terry.
Reflecting on his personal profession that yr, Jones advised Rolling Stone, “I by no means thought of it till I hit 80, however I’ve been blessed to work with each main music star within the historical past of America — together with Louie Armstrong.”
“You possibly can’t plan that,” Jones mentioned. “You possibly can’t say, ‘Mr. Sinatra, I need to work with you.’ No. You need to wait till he calls you.”
This can be a creating story and will likely be up to date.