The 1994 film Forrest Gump starred Tom Hanks as a man who randomly encounters legendary figures from 20th century history: Elvis, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Abbie Hoffman, John Lennon and Richard Nixon. Quincy Jones, who has died aged 91, liked to call himself a “ghetto Gump.” It’s easy to understand why.
Over a career spanning seven decades, Jones achieved massive success as a record producer, film composer and entertainment mogul. Along the way, he rubbed shoulders with Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Pablo Picasso, Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and Elon Musk, among others.
The ghetto part was only half true. Jones was born in Chicago in 1933 to working-class parents. After his mother, who suffered from schizophrenia, was institutionalized, he was sent for a time to Kentucky to live with his grandmother, who sent him to the local river to catch rats so that she kills them and cooks them.
Moving to Seattle with his father, after surviving a car accident in which all four other people in the vehicle died, Jones became addicted to music and became a trumpeter. Friends with another local schoolboy, Ray Charles, at 18 he joined Lionel Hampton’s jazz group and toured the United States.
Jones’ next move was to New York, where he worked as a music arranger for Count Basie and others. He traveled the world with Dizzy Gillespie’s group, then lived in France, where he regularly dined with Picasso, a neighbor. In 1958, Grace Kelly asked him to conduct and arrange Frank Sinatra at a charity concert in Monaco.
This launched a relationship with the singer during which Jones produced many of his greatest works, including the acclaimed 1966 album. Sinatra on the sands. Returning to the United States in the early 1960s, he also worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis and Sammy Davis Jr, proving himself a deft producer, capable of working with sometimes monstrous egos.
Joining Mercury Records, Jones quickly rose to vice president. He could see that jazz was in decline and pop was on the rise, and produced several million-selling singles for teenage starlet Leslie Gore, including her 1963 US number one “It’s My Party”.
But he wanted to work in cinema. Moving to Los Angeles, he composed music for dozens of films, including In the heat of the night (1967) and Italian work (1969) and wrote music for television shows, including the theme from Alongside ironand won an Emmy for his work on Roots.
Surviving a brain aneurysm in 1974 that forced him to give up his beloved trumpet, Jones turned to soul and funk, producing hit albums for Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer and George Benson. He also found time to create his own music, listening to top 10 American albums with Body heat And The guy.
Yet for many, Jones will forever be associated with the 1980s, and particularly his collaborations with Michael Jackson. Having worked with Jackson on the 1978 film The magicianJones became the superstar’s studio producer and produced his three career-defining albums.
Out of the wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987) have sold a total of more than 100 million copies. Thriller spent 37 weeks atop the Billboard chart and remains the best-selling album of all time (and, in the age of streaming, likely will remain so). Jones also found time to produce the 1985 multi-artist charity single “We Are the World” to raise money to help fight famine in Ethiopia.
He had a keen eye for talent. In 1985, he pulled Oprah Winfrey from local Chicago television to star in Steven Spielberg’s film. The color purple (1985), which Jones also co-produced and composed. Five years later, he teamed up with Time Warner to form Quincy Jones Entertainment, which created the hit television show. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and launched the career of Will Smith.
Jones’ personal life was as busy as his career. He was married and divorced three times and is survived by seven children, including actress Rashida Jones.
More recently, he was neighbors with Elon Musk and claimed to have frequently dined with him, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezos.
Fittingly for Ghetto Gump, tributes have been paid by Paul McCartney (“He had a wink”), Michael Caine, Elton John and two US presidents, Joe Biden and Barack Obama. Stevie Wonder said rolling stone: “Quincy should be remembered as one of God’s greatest gifts to the world.”
