WASHINGTON, Nov 4, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Music industry titan Quincy Jones, who 
produced some of Michael Jackson's best-known albums and collaborated with 
legends including Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, has died aged 91.

He was surrounded by family at his home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of 
Bel Air at the time of his death on Sunday, his publicist Arnold Robinson 
said in a statement that did not specify a cause.

"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father 
and brother Quincy Jones' passing," his family said, according to the 
statement. "And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we 
celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another 
like him."

A jazz musician, composer and tastemaker, his studio chops and arranging 
prowess connected the dots between the 20th century's constellation of stars.

From Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, jazz to hip-hop, Jones tracked the 
ever-fluctuating pulse of pop over his seven-decade-plus career -- most often 
manipulating the beat himself.

"Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones' heart will beat for 
eternity," his family said.

- 'You name it, Quincy's done it' -

Born in 1933 on the south side of Chicago, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. 
discovered a knack for the piano at a recreation center and became teenage 
buddies with Ray Charles.

Jones briefly studied at the Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts before 
joining bandleader Lionel Hampton on the road, eventually relocating to New 
York, where he gained attention as an arranger for stars including Duke 
Ellington, Dinah Washington, Count Basie and, of course, Charles.

He played second trumpet on Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," teaming up 
with Dizzy Gillespie for several years before moving to Paris in 1957, where 
he studied under the legendary composer Nadia Boulanger.

Jones later expanded into Hollywood, scoring films and television shows.

Among entertainment's most decorated figures, Jones won virtually every major 
achievement award, including 28 Grammys.

In 1967, Jones was the first Black composer to be nominated in the original 
song category of the Oscars, for the film "Banning."

Jones started a label, founded a hip-hop magazine, and produced the 1990s hit 
television show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," discovering Will Smith.

He also wrote his own hits, like the addictively cacophonous "Soul Bossa 
Nova," while also arranging at a breathless pace for dozens of stars across 
the industry.

But he was perhaps best known as the producer of Michael Jackson's albums 
"Off the Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad".

"You name it, Quincy's done it. He's been able to take this genius of his and 
translate it into any kind of sound that he chooses," jazz pianist Herbie 
Hancock told PBS in 2001.

"He is fearless. If you want Quincy to do something, you tell him that he 
can't do it. And of course he will -- he'll do it."