Photo of Quincy Jones
Sound

Quincy Jones

Profession
Sound
Born
March 14, 1933 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died
November 3, 2024

Biography

Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award nominations, 28 Grammys, and a Grammy Legend Award in 1992. Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor before working on pop music and film scores. He moved easily between musical genres, producing Lesley Gore's major pop hits of the early 1960s (including "It's My Party") and serving as an arranger and conductor for several collaborations between the jazz artists Frank Sinatra and Count Basie in the same time period. In 1968, Jones became the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The Eyes of Love" from the film Banning. Jones was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score for his work on the 1967 film In Cold Blood, making him the first African American to be nominated twice in the same year. Jones produced three of popstar Michael Jackson's most successful albums: Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). In 1985, Jones produced and conducted the charity song "We Are the World", which raised funds for victims of famine in Ethiopia. In 1971, Jones became the first African American to be the musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards. In 1995, he was the first African American to receive the academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the second most Oscar-nominated African American, with seven nominations each. In 2013, Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner, alongside Lou Adler, of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. He was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time.

Known for

Austin Powers in Goldmember poster
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Film · 2002 · ★ 6.0
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air poster
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Series · 1990 · ★ 7.9
The Color Purple poster
The Color Purple
Film · 1985 · ★ 7.7
Malcolm X poster
Malcolm X
Film · 1992 · ★ 7.6
Fantasia 2000 poster
Fantasia 2000
Film · 2000 · ★ 7.0
In the Heat of the Night poster
In the Heat of the Night
Film · 1967 · ★ 7.7
Get Rich or Die Tryin' poster
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Film · 2005 · ★ 6.9
The Italian Job poster
The Italian Job
Film · 1969 · ★ 6.9
The Getaway poster
The Getaway
Film · 1972 · ★ 7.2
Sandy Wexler poster
Sandy Wexler
Film · 2017 · ★ 5.5
Saturday Night Live poster
Saturday Night Live
Series · 1975 · ★ 6.9
The Boondocks poster
The Boondocks
Series · 2005 · ★ 8.3

Filmography