The music producer died Sunday night at his home in Los Angeles.
Quincy Jones, the versatile music giant who played with artists ranging from Count Basie to Frank Sinatra and reshaped pop music with his collaborations with Michael Jackson, has died at the age of 91.
Jones died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family, said his publicist Arnold Robinson.
“Tonight, it is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our father and brother, Quincy Jones,” the family said in a statement. “And while this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate his amazing life and know there will never be another like him.”
Robinson did not disclose the cause of death.
career
Jones rose from working with gangsters on Chicago's South Side to the pinnacle of show business, becoming one of the first black executives to succeed in Hollywood and creating an extraordinary music that includes some of the richest moments of American rhythm and song. Accumulated catalogs.
Jones continued to associate with presidents, world leaders, movie stars, musicians, philanthropists and business leaders.
He also helped get Will Smith on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The aspiring sitcom star auditioned for the show during a big party at Jones' house.
He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots'' and “In the Heat of the Night,'' and worked with Bill・Planned President Clinton's first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “''. “We Are the World'' is a 1985 charity record for famine relief in Africa. AFP Reported.
Lionel Richie, who co-wrote “We Are the World” and was one of the featured singers, called Jones “a master orchestrator.”
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“Michael Jackson plagiarized his hit songs”
In 2018, Jones claimed that Jackson plagiarized some of his hit songs.
“I don't want to bring this up in public, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs,” Jones said Tuesday in New York Magazine's culture site Vulture. He spoke in an interview full of eyebrow-raising comments.
“Memos don't lie, dude. He was a Machiavellian, hands down,” said the 84-year-old music veteran.
He specifically cited “Billie Jean,” the signature song from the best-selling album of all time, “Thriller,” produced by Jones.
Jones suggested similarities between the song and disco queen Donna Summer's “State of Independence.” This song was also produced by Jones and released a few months earlier in 1982.
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