From Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles to Michael Jackson. Quincy Jones, the producer who launched the careers of music legends, winner of more than two dozen Grammys, who composed soundtracks for films like In the Heat of the Night, The color purple and that questioned the career of The Beatles or the king of pop.
“I can’t even explain what’s going on in my head right now, because I know I have to be here and focused, but we just lost the extraordinary Quincy Jones,” declared Whoopi Goldberg while taking a break from ‘The View’. The actress met him while filming the film The color purple. “I didn’t have a better friend. “He always told me to stay strong and I always do and I always will, because I can do it.”
Born in Chicago, he was the son of a carpenter and his mother worked in a bank before being diagnosed with schizophrenia. “There are two types of people, those who have it and those who don’t. “I have no idea what ‘mother’ means and it’s incredible,” Jones said in an interview. “You must have a male or female caregiver before the age of 9 or you have a void that you must fill for the rest of your life. We compensate. “It’s very deep.”
His career began in Washington when he was a teenager, after his parents’ divorce. During those years, he met Ray Charles. Quincy Jones achieved several records; Among them, he was the first African-American music director to be nominated for an Oscar. It is said that the executives who hired him for the film Mirage (1965) found out about this after learning of the nominations.
“We will miss him very much,” director Clint Eastwood published in X upon learning of the family’s statement. “With a full but broken heart, we must share the news of the death of our father and brother. And while this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he lived and know there will never be another like him.”
“Michael Jackson wasn’t that talented.”
Legend Quincy Jones was the producer of the 1985 charity song We Are the World. Photo: composition LR/ABC
Quincy Jones was behind the king of pop’s hits ‘Thriller’, ‘Off the Wall’ and ‘Bad’. But despite the recognition they achieved, he ended up accusing him of plagiarism and tearing down the ‘idol’. “I’ve worked with Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and, most of all, Ray Charles… Do you think I might be jealous of Michael Jackson? Michael wasn’t that talented. He was great, but he didn’t play in the league I just mentioned. I have had seven children and participated in 40 films. I don’t have time to waste on nonsense,” he responded to El País.❖ The Academy will recognize his career with the honorary Oscar at the event on Sunday the 17th. In Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jonesthe producer claims that he was able to find refuge in music. “That’s where I started to find peace. I was 11 years old. I knew this was my thing. Forever”.
