A true pop Music legend, trumpeter, composer and music producer Quincy Jones has died at the age of 91, his press secretary announced Monday.
The artist with 28 Grammy Awards, including Best Album in 1991 for Back on the Blockwas a hard worker in the studio, a master at managing egos during a career where he collaborated with the greatest artists.
In 1985, he and singer Lionel Richie created the project We Are the Worlda title bringing together Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Ray Charles, Diana Ross and Bob Dylan in the same studio to raise funds against the famine in Ethiopia.
Outside of music, Quincy Jones has also shined in the film industry, co-producing The Color Purplea drama directed by Steven Spielberg starring Danny Glover and Whoopi Goldberg.
He will also be at the origin of the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airinspired in part by the life of Will Smith, which launched the actor’s career.
A jack of all trades, Quincy Jones rubbed shoulders with the greatest artists of the 20th century, dining with Pablo Picasso, meeting Pope John Paul II or celebrating his 90th birthday with Nelson Mandela.
But his greatest collaboration was that begun at the end of the 1970s with Michael Jackson, who produced three legendary albums: Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982 and Bad in 1987.
Nearly 70 years of career
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Music producer Quincy Jones has established himself in the world of jazz, pop and hip hop music during a career spanning nearly 70 years.
Photo : Getty Images / Arnold Turner
Originally from Chicago, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. experimented with several instruments at school then focused on the trumpet before meeting Ray Charles at 14, two years his senior and still anonymous, with whom he learned arranging and composition in Seattle.
Winner of a scholarship to study at the Berklee School Music in Boston, he left university to hit the road and accompany jazzman Lionel Hampton’s group as a trumpet player in the 1950s.
After touring the United States and Europe, he was heavily in debt and joined the record company Mercury Records in New York and became one of the company’s first black managers.
Quincy Jones sort son premier single en 1964 It’s My Party and suffered his first criticisms from jazz purists who accused him of being a sellout.
The underlying motivation for any artist, whether it’s Stravinsky or Miles Davis, is to make the kind of music that they want and that everyone buys.
He remained very active throughout his career, launching his own music label Qwest and a rap magazine Vibe as well as numerous humanitarian projects.
Quincy Jones was married three times and had seven children.
