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Quincy Jones leaves behind iconic music legacy, from ‘Thriller’ to ‘We Are the World’

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Quincy Jones leaves behind iconic music legacy, from ‘Thriller’ to ‘We Are the World’

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Quincy Jones once said his most important criteria for working with an artist were compassion and excellence.

“When they love what they’re doing, they work hard. We came from the school where we didn’t think about money or fame, just being a great musician,” Jones said.

The legendary producer, who played trumpet in his early years, traveled the world with the renowned Lionel Hampton and began composing film scores in 1964, achieved a peerless output on both sides of the recording booth.

Jones, who died Sunday at 91, also broke down racial boundaries in music and film and is one of the most revered music producers in music history. His skillful work and unique sound put him in the room with greats including Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, while his hitmaking prowess and partnership with Michael Jackson etched him forever in pop music’s record books.

Jones’ influence cannot be overstated. The most recent of his 28 Grammy Awards came in 2023, when he factored into Harry Styles‘ album of the year win for “Harry’s House.” Styles’ album track “Daydreaming” contained a sample of the Brothers Johnson 1978 song “Ain’t We Funkin’ Now,” which Jones co-wrote.

“Don’t never give up. And also keep the humility with the creativity. And grace with the success,” Jones told USA TODAY in 2018. “Because just because you’re behind a No. 1 record does not make you better than anybody.”

Here are some of Jones’ best-known hits.

‘Off the Wall’ tracks ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ and ‘Rock with You’

Jones met the eventual King of Pop when scoring the 1978 musical film “The Wiz,” which starred Jackson and Diana Ross. Jones went on to produce Jackson’s album “Off the Wall” in 1979, including hit singles “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “Rock with You,” “Off the Wall” and “She’s Out of My Life,” which made the singer the first solo artist to have four singles from the same album reach the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 list.

The success of “Off the Wall” also includes songwriting contributions from Heatwave’s Rod Temperton, whom Jones invited to contribute the title track and “Rock with You.” Temperton and Jones would collaborate again on the title track and other songs on “Thriller.”

Music titan Quincy Jones, legendary producer of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ dies at 91

Bestselling ‘Thriller’ with Michael Jackson

The bestselling album of all time, 1982’s “Thriller” solidified Jackson and Jones as a hitmaking duo. With its pioneering meshing of funk, pop, disco and rock − Jones recruited guitar superstar Eddie Van Halen to add the squealing solo in “Beat It” − “Thriller” reset the bar for pop music.

The album boasted an unprecedented seven hits from its nine tracks (“Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “The Girl is Mine” with Paul McCartney and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” which Jones co-wrote with singer/songwriter James Ingram among them) and remains Jones’ and Jackson’s magnum opus.

Even the creepy spoken word interlude on “Thriller” from horror film stalwart Vincent Price was a touch generated by Jones.

‘A genius has left us’: Gloria Estefan, Colman Domingo and more honor icon Quincy Jones

Blockbuster charity single ‘We Are the World’

The powerful pop music partnership of Jones and Jackson can also be credited for the star-studded charity song “We Are the World,” which won Jones three Grammys (a fourth was awarded for best music video, short form). The 1985 single, co-written by Jackson and Lionel Richie and co-produced by Jones and Michael Omartian, sold 20 million physical copies and is one of the bestselling singles of all time. The single, the U.S. response to Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” was crafted to raise money for the 1980s famine in Ethiopia.

The song included vocal performances from dozens of singers, including Richie, Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Ingram, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Cyndi Lauper, Bob Dylan and Ray Charles.

A Netflix documentary earlier this year unveiled the tick-tock of the most magical night in music, an historical gathering dubbed “The Greatest Night in Pop.”

Jones, who insisted the 46 assembled music stars take their assignment seriously, plastered a handwritten sign above the doorway in the studio, Ted Lasso-style: “Check your egos at the door.”

Star power of ‘We are the World’ remains unmatched: Inside the dramatic 1-night recording

Michael Jackson’s edgy ‘Bad’ and ‘Man in the Mirror’

The duo’s third and final collaboration, 1987’s “Bad,” featured even more record-breaking tracks. The edgy title track, pop ballad “Man in the Mirror,” finger-snapping R&B hit “The Way You Make Me Feel,” rock-inspired anthem “Dirty Diana” and the groovy single “Smooth Criminal” continued the Jackson-Jones team’s success. It was one of the first albums to employ the then-new technology of digital synthesizers and lyrically delved deeper into Jackson’s escalating paranoia about the media as well as his commitment to world peace.

“Bad” commandeered the charts as the the bestselling album worldwide in 1987 and 1988 with 17 million copies moved and led to a 123-date worldwide tour, which became the second-highest grossing tour of the 1980s behind Pink Floyd’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

‘Fly Me To the Moon’ with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie

Jones arranged Frank Sinatra‘s 1964 Count Basie-assisted album “It Might as Well Be Swing,” which included the big-band singer’s version of “Fly Me To the Moon.” The single is closely linked to NASA’s Apollo space program, played on the Apollo 10 mission orbiting the moon and on Apollo 11 before the first moon landing.

Lesley Gore’s hit ‘It’s My Party’

Jones produced Lesley Gore’s 1963 debut album “I’ll Cry If I Want To,” including its lead single and her first hit, “It’s My Party.” Jones was integral in the melodic handclapper becoming a hit when he mailed it to radio programmers around the country asking for consideration of play. Jones and Gore forged an amenable partnership as he produced her follow-up albums “Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts,” “Boys, Boys, Boys” and “Girl Talk” in 1964, and “My Town, My Guy & Me” in 1965.

‘E.T. Phone Home’ from Spielberg’s ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’

Jones isn’t just known for pop and jazz music production. The hitmaker was also frequently tapped as a film composer and producer of movie soundtracks, with Sidney Lumet’s “The Pawnbroker” his first in 1964. Among Jones’ movie credits is the storybook album for Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” where Jones served as producer with John Williams composing and writing original music and Jackson narrating. The album includes the famous “E.T. Phone Home” recording.

‘Ease On Down The Road’ from cult classic ‘The Wiz’

The soundtrack to “The Wizard of Oz” revamp “The Wiz” was actually more successful than the cult classic 1978 film adaptation from the 1975 play. “Ease On Down The Road” is an original from the play, by Charlie Smalls and Luther Vandross, but was produced by Jones and sung by Ross and Jackson in the film.

The single, which marked one of the first collaborations between Jackson and Jones, earned Jackson his first solo Grammy nomination − without his family band, The Jacksons − with Ross.

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