Quincy Delight Jones Jr.
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Quincy Jones, a 26-time Grammy winner, produced Michael Jackson’s Thriller album in 1982, which sold over 100 million records worldwide. He composed scores for films like In the Heat of the Night and The Color Purple, and co-wrote the charity single ‘We Are the World’ in 1985. Jones also served as executive producer for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and influenced music across jazz, pop, and soul.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Quincy Jones — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Quincy Jones by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Quincy Jones — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Quincy Jones, born in Chicago in 1933, discovered his passion for music at Seattle’s Garfield High School, where he met Ray Charles. His mother was committed to a mental hospital when he was seven, and his father worked as a carpenter. At 17, he won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music but dropped out to tour with Lionel Hampton’s band as a trumpeter.
Jones won his first Grammy in 1963 for arranging Count Basie’s ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You. He became Frank Sinatra’s conductor and arranger, and scored films including The Pawnbroker 1964 and In the Heat of the Night 1967. In 1978, he met Michael Jackson while working on The Wiz, leading to the production of Thriller 1982 and Bad 1987. He also composed the theme for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1990.
Jones married three times: to Jeri Caldwell 1957–1966, Ulla Andersson 1968–1974, and Peggy Lipton 1974–1989. He had seven children, including actresses Rashida and Kidada Jones. He also had a long-term relationship with Nastassja Kinski from 1991 to 1997, with whom he had daughter Kenya Kinski-Jones.
Jones refined music across genres, from jazz to pop to soul, and his production of Thriller set records for sales. He received 26 Grammys, an Academy Honorary Award, and the National Medal of Arts in 2010. The 1985 charity single We Are the World, which he co-produced, raised millions for Ethiopian famine relief. He is remembered as a visionary producer who sculpted modern music.
Browse the complete filmography of Quincy Jones — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Quincy Jones — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Quincy Jones's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Quincy Jones — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Frank Sinatra Took Me to a Whole New Planet. I Worked with Him Until He Passed Away in ’98. He Left Me His Ring. I Never Take It Off. Now, When I Go to Sicily, I Don’t Need a Passport. I Just Flash My Ring.
When I Was Studying with Nadia Boulanger, the Legendary Composer and Teacher, in Paris, She Used to Say Your Music Can Never Be More Than You Are as a Human Being. and B.B. King Was a Great Human Being.
Little-known facts about Quincy Jones — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Quincy Jones never learned how to drive an automobile.
He suffered a brain aneurysm in the 1970s and can no longer play the trumpet as doing so could dislodge the chip in his brain.
He received twenty-six Grammys, which is more than any living recording artist at the time. Sir Georg Solti holds the all-time record with thirty-one.
From 1991 to 1997, Jones lived with Nastassja Kinski. They had a daughter, Kenya Kinski-Jones Kenya Julia Miambi Sarah Jones, born February 9, 1993.
At 17, he began his career playing trumpet and arranging for Lionel Hampton, and later Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, and Peggy Lee.
He is considered Berklee College of Music’s most famous alumnus. His original application, when the school was known as Schillinger House, is housed in a display case at the school.
He is the father, with Peggy Lipton, of actresses Kidada Jones born 1974 and Rashida Jones born 1976.
In 1963, when Lesley Gore’s ‘It’s My Party’ topped the US charts, it was Quincy’s very first hit as a producer for Mercury Records.
He was good friends with Ray Charles.
He was awarded the 2010 National Medal of Arts for his contributions to American music as a musician, composer, record producer, and arranger. He was an inventor of musical hybrids, mixing pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, African, and Brazilian music into many dazzling fusions.
He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988.
He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1500 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
He was friends with Sammy Davis Jr., Lionel Richie, Maurice White, and Naomi Campbell.
He was the godfather of singer Patti Austin, Nicole Richie, and Quincy Brown.
He was once neighbors with Pablo Picasso. They had a mutual friend and met at a restaurant where Picasso paid with fish bones, which were immediately hung on the wall.
He received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia for his services to music.
His maternal grandmother, Mary Belle Lanier, was the illegitimate daughter of James Balance Lanier, the second cousin four times removed of President George Washington. He is also related to Lee Marvin and Senator John McCain.
He received the John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2001.
He was awarded the Polar Music Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Award, in 1994.
He appeared in, conducted, produced, and directed the music video for the song We Are The World.
He played trumpet in Billie Holiday’s band when he was 14 years old.
After his brain aneurysm, a metal plate was placed in his head, thus setting off a metal detector at an airport.
He was born on the same day as Sir Michael Caine.
He has synesthesia, the ability to see music.
He is the father of Quincy Jones III and Martina Jones with Ulla Andersson.
He can play most brass instruments including trumpet, sousaphone, bugle, French horn and trombone.
He is the father, with Carol Reynolds, of daughter Rachel Jones.
His mother was committed to Manteno State Hospital with dementia praecox schizophrenia when he was seven years old.
He was chosen by People USA magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.
With Jeri Caldwell, he is the father of jazz vocalist Jolie Jones Levine.
His production company, partnered with former news executive David Salzman, also produces Jenny Jones 1991 and Mad TV 1995.
Samsung designed the exclusive AKG N90Q headphones according to Quincy’s personalized specifications. Initial recommended retail price was $1500 a pair.
In 1974, Jones developed a life-threatening brain aneurysm, leading to a decision to reduce his workload to spend time with his friends and family. Since his family and friends believed Jones’s life was coming to an end, they started to plan a memorial service for him. He attended his own service with his neurologist by his side, in case the excitement overwhelmed him. Some of the entertainers at his service were Richard Pryor, Marvin Gaye, Sarah Vaughan, and Sidney Poitier. He lived on for another 50 years.
He studied astrology with astronaut John Glenn.
Larenz Tate portrayed Jones in Ray 2004.
He was former brother-in-law of Robert Lipton.
Jones revealed that Ray Charles introduced him to heroin at 15, although he stopped using after five months.
He held a negative opinion of the Catholic Church, believing it is built upon the notions of money and fear, smoke, and murder.
He was born at 8:40pm CST.
Jones claimed he dated Ivanka Trump despite expressing disdain for her father. He later apologized for the interview after a family intervention with his six daughters, blaming the things he said on word vomit.
He contributed with the music composition of two films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: In the Heat of the Night 1967 and The Color Purple 1985. Of those, In the Heat of the Night 1967 is a winner in the category.
His siblings are Richard, Lloyd, Marge Jay, and Therea Frank.
He is grandfather of Donovan Levine, Sunny Levine, Quincy Renzo Delight Jones IV, Nea Jones, and Isaiah Jones Konig.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Quincy Jones.
Celebrities similar to Quincy Jones — same craft, ranked by reach.
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