Quincy Jones
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.
Acting (102 movies)
Ronnie's
2020
Quincy Jones: In the Pocket
2001
Fantasia 2000
2000
The Weeknd: 103.5 Dawn FM
2022
Herb Alpert Is...
2020
Quincy Jones : 75th Birthday Celebration Live at Montreux
2008
Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes
2023
Ennio
2022
Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones
1990
The Jazz Baroness
2009
Tony Bennett: Forget Me Not
2022
Davi's Way
2018
Genius. A Night for Ray Charles
2004
King: Man of Peace in a Time of War
2007
David Foster: Off the Record
2019
Miles Davis with Quincy Jones and the Gil Evans Orchestra Live at Montreux 1991
2013
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
2013
Jacob Collier: In the Room Where It Happens
2022
Lesley Gore: It's Her Party
2001
Live and Swingin': The Ultimate Rat Pack Collection
2003
Kylie Minogue V The Bee Gees
2022
Sidney
2022
Michael Jackson: Number Ones
2003
Diana
1981
The Greatest Night in Pop
2024
Michael Jackson: The Legend Continues
1988
Diane Warren: Relentless
2025
Oprah & The Color Purple Journey
2023
Experience Montreux
2013
2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
2022
Thriller 40
2023
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
2019
The Unforgettable Nat King Cole
1989
Celia: The Queen
2008
We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song
1985
Sinatra 100: An All-Star Grammy Concert
2015
Don Lewis and The Live Electronic Orchestra
2024
I Go Back Home - Jimmy Scott
2016
Brando
2007
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall
2016
They All Came Out to Montreux
2023
Jazz Icons - Quincy Jones Live in '60
2006
Anouk Aimée, la beauté du geste
2012
Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic
2013
New Order Story
1993
Score: A Film Music Documentary
2017
Jay Sebring… Cutting to the Truth
2020
King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones
2024
Frank Sinatra Memorial
2000
Quincy Jones: 50 Years in Music - Live at Montreux
1996
Sandy Wexler
2017
Q: The Man
2009
The Distortion of Sound
2014
Feel Rich: Health Is the New Wealth
2017
Kareem: Minority of One
2015
Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary
1986
Quincy
2018
Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp
2012
The Jazz Ambassadors
2018
Oscar Peterson: Music in the Key of Oscar
1995
Survivor's Guide to Prison
2018
The World of Nat King Cole
2004
It Must Schwing: The Blue Note Story
2018
Austin Powers in Goldmember
2002
The Wiz
1978
ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke
2019
Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound
2008
Wiz on Down the Road
1978
The Black Godfather
2019
It's Black Entertainment
2002
Montreux Jazz Festival 2013 - Remember Claude Nobs
2019
Quincy Jones: A Musical Celebration in Paris
2019
Jazz Open Stuttgart 2017 - Festival of World Stars and Child Prodigies
2017
Quincy Jones & Friends - Live at Jazz Open Stuttgart
2017
Q85: A Musical Celebration for Quincy Jones
2018
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration
2001
Letter to the President
2005
Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1
2018
More Than Jazz
2016
Frank Sinatra Spectacular
1965
Count Basie: Through His Own Eyes
2020
The Phil Collins Big Band - Live at Montreux 1996
1996
Michael Jackson: The One
2004
The N Word
2006
Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me
2017
Intimate Portrait: Natalie Cole
1999
Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light
2000
Wayne Shorter: Live at Montreux 1996
1996
Sergio Mendes in the Key of Joy
2021
A Great Day in Harlem
1994
Paul Simon: Under African Skies
2012
Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over
2021
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
2002
The Earth Day Special
1990
Once Upon a Time Michel Legrand
2024
Wheedle's Groove
2009
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres
2021
Quincy Jones - Music Man
2025
The Real Malcolm X
1992
Lady Be Good: Instrumental Women In Jazz
2008
Directing (1 movie)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| The Boy in the Tree | 1961 | Original Music Composer |
| The Pawnbroker | 1965 | Original Music Composer |
| Mirage | 1965 | Original Music Composer |
| The Slender Thread | 1965 | Original Music Composer |
| Walk Don't Run | 1966 | Original Music Composer |
| The Deadly Affair | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| Enter Laughing | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| Ironside | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| In the Heat of the Night | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| Banning | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| In Cold Blood | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| A Dandy in Aspic | 1968 | Original Music Composer |
| For Love of Ivy | 1968 | Original Music Composer |
| The Hell with Heroes | 1968 | Original Music Composer |
| Split Second to an Epitaph | 1968 | Original Music Composer |
| The Split | 1968 | Original Music Composer |
| Of Men and Demons | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| The Italian Job | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| The Lost Man | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| John and Mary | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| Cactus Flower | 1969 | Original Music Composer |
| Last of the Mobile Hot Shots | 1970 | Original Music Composer |
| The Out-of-Towners | 1970 | Original Music Composer |
| They Call Me Mister Tibbs! | 1970 | Original Music Composer |
| The Anderson Tapes | 1971 | Original Music Composer |
| Brother John | 1971 | Original Music Composer |
| Eggs | 1971 | Original Music Composer |
| Honky | 1971 | Original Music Composer |
| $ | 1971 | Original Music Composer |
| The Hot Rock | 1972 | Original Music Composer |
| The Getaway | 1972 | Original Music Composer |
| The Color Purple | 1985 | Producer |
| The Color Purple | 1985 | Original Music Composer |
| Stalingrad | 1990 | Producer |
| A Cool Like That Christmas | 1993 | Producer |
| Michael Jackson Video Greatest Hits: HIStory | 1995 | Producer |
| Steel | 1997 | Producer |
| Passing Glory | 1999 | Executive Producer |
| The Smokers | 2000 | Executive Producer |
| Stealing Bess | 2003 | Executive Producer |
| Their Eyes Were Watching God | 2005 | Executive Producer |
| Letter to the President | 2005 | Executive Producer |
| Get Rich or Die Tryin' | 2005 | Original Music Composer |
| Keep On Keepin’ On | 2014 | Producer |
| Fandango at the Wall | 2020 | Executive Producer |
| They All Came Out to Montreux | 2023 | Executive Producer |
| The Color Purple | 2023 | Producer |
| Lola | 2024 | Original Music Composer |
| King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones | 2024 | Executive Producer |