Earlier this month, on Nov. 7, legendary music producer and composer Quincy Jones passed away at 91 years old. In addition to leaving a legacy of incredible music and history-making moments, Quincy also said goodbye to his seven kids.
And while his children continue to mourn his passing, four of them – Rashida, Martina, Quincy III, and Kenya – honored their dad at the 2024 Governors Awards on Nov. 17.
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While accepting an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award on his behalf, Parks and Recreation star Rashida gave an emotional speech celebrating her dad, who scored movies like The Italian Job, The Wiz and The Color Purple.
“Our father passed away two weeks ago today,” she said. “He was really excited to attend tonight and a lot of his family are here, our of the seven of us are here and our beautiful family in the audience and he has so many friends in this room – well, actually probably in every room if I’m being honest because wherever he went he made connections with everyone, real one. He had this natural gift with people. He knew how to stay present, stay curious and stay loving.”
Martina Jones, Rashida Jones, and Quincy Jones III accept the Governor’s Award for their late father Quincy Jones at the 15th Governors Awards held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on November 17, 2024, in Los Angeles, California.
Rashida then revealed that her dad “had been working on his speech” prior to his passing. She then read his speech to the crowd “in his own words.”
“As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I would sit for hours in the theater and dream about composing for films,” she read. “I could immediately recognize the styles of Alfred Newman at Fox, and Victor Young at Paramount, to name a few, and I knew that creating music for film was something that I longed to do.”
“When I was a young film composer, you didn’t even see faces of color working in the studio commissaries,” he wrote. “I’m so so proud that my name and contributions can be included in that evolution.”
“I share this award and tonight’s honor with all the amazing directors, legendary actors, and of course exceptional songwriters, composers, and musicians who I’ve formed dear friendships with over my seven decades in this business, and know that I wouldn’t trade this night or those experiences for anything in the world,” Rashida said. “And that’s where his speech ends.”
Holding back her tears, the actress admitted that being there tonight was no easy feat.
“In some ways, it was a difficult decision for our family to be here tonight but we felt like we wanted to celebrate his beautiful life and career,” Rashida continued. “His music has literally defined an entire century of culture — jazz, disco, film, pop, hip-hop, but the real thread in his music is that his music is all infused with his love.”
She then encouraged everyone in the audience to go home and listen to his work and admire his talent.
“There’s an entire universe waiting in his seven decades of music and while you listen, hear how he imbued love into every single second of music he made,” she said. “That was his real legacy. Love. He loved life. He often said ‘Live every day like it’s your last and one day you’ll be right.’ And you did, Dad. You did. You lived the biggest, best, most beautiful life of love every single day you were here.”
As her beautiful speech came to an end, Rashida hugged her siblings on stage with her. In the audience, fellow celebs like Anna Kendrick and Selena Gomez got up from their seats and applauded with tears streaming down their faces. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
May his legacy live on.
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