[imagesurce: Quincy Jones / Facebook]

Quincy Jones, the musical giant who did it all as a producer, film composer, multi-genre artist, entertainment executive and humanitarian, has died. He was 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, told the Associated Press that he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement to AP. “And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him.”

In a phenomenal career that spanned more than 60 years, Jones produced Michael Jackson’s best-selling albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad; obtained the rights to the novel The Color Purple, cast a young Oprah Winfrey in the Steven Spielberg 1985 film adaptation and received three Oscar nominations for his work.

He also managed the historic recording sessions for the 1985 charity single “We Are the World,” which became the best-selling single of all time; and produced Lesley Gore’s 1963 chart-topping hit “It’s My Party.”

The first U.S. feature that Jones scored was Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1964), and he did the music for two landmark films released in 1967: the best picture Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night and Truman Copote’s In Cold Blood.

For television, Jones composed the theme songs for such series as the 1969-71 Bill Cosby Show, Ironside and Sanford and Son and executive produced such series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, where he discovered Will Smith, and In the House, starring LL Cool J. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.

From Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin to Celine Dion, jazz to hip-hop, this man did it all.

Quincy Jones leaves behind a vast music (“Thriller”) & film (THE COLOR PURPLE) legacy. He was a terrific movie producer, composer, arranger & the most successful music producer of all time. He was also a compelling storyteller, recounting his projects’ histories. #RIPQuincyJones pic.twitter.com/9Geqa1H1nG

— Courtney Howard (@Lulamaybelle) November 4, 2024

Jones, who said he spoke 26 languages and could write in seven, was married to high-school sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957-66, to actress Ulla Andersson from 1967-74 and to actress Peggy Lipton from 1974-90. His seven children included one with dancer Carol Reynolds and another with actress Nastassja Kinski.

“This life that I’ve been blessed to live is not one that I take for granted. As a little black boy growing up in the South Side of Chicago, making it to 91 wasn’t even a dream because it never seemed possible.  To all-a-y’all out there, never underestimate the positive impact that you can have on a kid’s life because it may just be the difference between them making it to 19 or 91.”

Jones was once quoted as saying “You only live 26,000 days, I’m going to wear them all out.” He sure did.

[source:time]