Quincy Jones, music titan who worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, dies at 91

Quincy Jones, the multi-talented music titan whose vast legacy ranged from producing Michael Jackson’s historic “Thriller” album to writing prize-winning film and television scores and collaborating with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and hundreds of other recording artists, has died at 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, says he died Sunday night at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family. Jones was to have received an honorary Academy Award later this month.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a 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.”

Jones rose from running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives to thrive in Hollywood and leaving behind a vast musical catalog that includes some of the richest moments of American song and rhythm. Over the past half century, it was hard to find a music lover who did not own at least one record with Jones’ name on it or someone in the music, television or movie industries who did not have some connection to him.

Jones kept company with presidents and foreign leaders, movie stars and musicians, philanthropists and business leaders. He toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, composed the soundtracks for “Roots” and “In the Heat of the Night,” organized President Clinton’s first inaugural celebration and oversaw the all-star recording of “We Are the World.”

In a career that began when records were still played on vinyl at 78 rpm, singling out any work seems unfair. But honors likely go to his productions with Jackson on “Off the Wall,” “Thriller” and “Bad,” albums universal in their style and appeal. Jones’ versatility and imagination fit perfectly with the bursting talents of Jackson as he sensationally transformed from child star to the “King of Pop.” On such classic tracks as “Billie Jean” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” Jones and Jackson drew upon disco, funk, rock, pop, R&B and jazz and African chants. For “Thriller,” some of the most memorable touches originated with Jones, who recruited Eddie Van Halen for a guitar solo on the genre-defying “Beat It” and brought in Vincent Price for a ghoulish voiceover on the title track.

“Thriller” sold more than 20 million copies in 1983 alone, helped Jackson become the first major Black artist to have a video played on MTV and influenced countless performers.

“Michael had the look and the voice, and I had every sound you can think of,” Jones would explain.

The list of his honors and awards fills 18 pages in his 2001 autobiography “Q”: 28 Grammys (out of 80 nominations), an honorary Academy Award and an Emmy for “Roots.” He also received France’s Legion d’Honneur and the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy. In 2001, Jones was named a Kennedy Center Honoree for his contributions to American culture. He was the subject of a 1990 documentary, “Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones,” and his memoir made him a best-selling author.

“Despite all the Grammys and the special awards and testimonials that maturity bestows, it will always be the values you carry within yourself — of work, love, and integrity — that carry the greatest worth, because these are what get you through with your dreams intact, your heart held firm and your spirit ready for another day,” he wrote in his book.

Born in Chicago in 1933, Jones would cite the hymns his mother sang around the house as the first music he could remember. But he looked back sadly on his childhood, telling Oprah Winfrey that “There are two kinds of people: those who have nurturing parents or caretakers, and those who don’t. Nothing’s in between.” Jones’ mother suffered from emotional problems and was eventually institutionalized, a loss that made the world seem “senseless” for Quincy. He spent much of his time in Chicago on the streets, with gangs, stealing and fighting.

Music was his passion, and, almost literally, his salvation. As a boy, he learned that a Chicago neighbor owned a piano and he soon played it constantly himself. His father moved to Washington state when Quincy was 10 and his world changed at a neighborhood recreation center. Jones and some friends had broken into the kitchen and helped themselves to lemon meringue pie when Jones noticed a small room nearby with a stage. On the stage was a piano.

“I went up there, paused, stared, and then tinkled on it for a moment,” he wrote in his autobiography. “That’s where I began to find peace. I was 11. I knew this was it for me. Forever.”

Within a few years he was playing trumpet and befriending a young blind musician named Ray Charles, who became a lifelong friend. He was gifted enough to win a scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, but dropped out when Hampton invited him to tour with his band. Jones went on to work as a freelance composer, conductor, arranger and producer. As a teen, he backed Billie Holiday. By his mid-20s, he was touring with his own band.

“We had the best jazz band on the planet, and yet we were literally starving,” Jones later told Musician magazine. “That’s when I discovered that there was music, and there was the music business. If I were to survive, I would have to learn the difference between the two.”

His survivors include actor Rashida Jones and five other daughters: Jolie Jones Levine, Rachel Jones, Martina Jones, Kidada Jones and Kenya Kinski-Jones; son Quincy Jones III; brother Richard Jones and sisters Theresa Frank and Margie Jay.

AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton and former AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

FILE - President Barack Obama presents a 2010 National Medal of Arts to musician and record producer Quincy Jones, Wednesday, March 2, 2011, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Quincy Jones has died at age 91. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - Legendary musician Quincy Jones poses amongst his many Grammy awards at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, Calif., Friday, April 9, 2004. Quincy Jones died at age 91. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

FILE - Quincy Jones cradles his Grammy awards including the album of the year award, for his eclectic album "Back on the Block" during the 33rd annual Grammy Awards, at New York's Radio City Music Hall night of Feb.20,1991. Quincy Jones died at age 91. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File)

FILE - Musician Quincy Jones and his wife, actress Peggy Lipton, hold Jones' star which was placed in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on March 14, 1980. (AP Photo/Barfield, File)

FILE - U.S. musician Quincy Jones directs the Orchestra National de France Tuesday, July 4, 2000, in Paris, during rehearsals prior the evening's unique concert. Quincy Jones died at age 91. (AP Photo/Laurent Emmanuel, File)

FILE - Quincy Jones, famed composer recovering from recent brain-blood-vessel surgery, relaxes at his Los Angeles music studio on Oct. 16, 1974. Quincy Jones died at age 91. (AP Photo/George Brich, File)

FILE - Michael Jackson, left, holds eight awards as he poses with Quincy Jones at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Feb. 28, 1984. Quincy Jones died at age 91. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac, File)

Quincy Jones, music titan who worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, dies at 91

FILE - Music producer Quincy Jones poses for a portrait to promote his documentary "Quincy" during the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 7, 2018, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)

Quincy Jones, music titan who worked with everyone from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson, dies at 91

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday, its neighbors said, as it continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S. presidential election.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said at least seven North Korean missiles flew as far as 400 kilometers (250 miles) with a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles). He said they landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

“North Korea’s actions, including a series of repeated missile launches, threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community,” Nakatani said.

South Korea's military also detected several missile launches by North Korea and subsequently boosted its surveillance posture. The North Korean missiles could be used to target key facilities in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

The launches came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile d esigned to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force. That drew condemnation from Kim’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong, who on Tuesday accused North Korea’s rivals of raising tensions with “aggressive and adventuristic military threats.”

South Korean officials have said that North Korea was likely to dial up its military displays around the U.S. presidential election to command the attention of Washington. South Korea’s military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

Outside officials and analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as leverage to win concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president is elected.

There are widespread views that Kim Jong Un would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump, with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. During campaigning, Harris said she won’t “cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump.”

North Korea claimed that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was “the world’s strongest” ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile is too big to be useful in war. Experts say North Korea has yet to acquire some critical technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.

Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his expanding nuclear weapon and missile programs, while reportedly providing Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and were preparing to join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine in the coming days. If they engage in combat, it would be North Korea’s first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

After a meeting in Seoul on Monday, senior South Korean and European Union officials expressed concerns about Russia’s possible transfer of technology to North Korea to enhance its nuclear program in exchange for its troops. Such transfers would “jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe,” they said.

In response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threat, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises. North Korea has portrayed such U.S.-led military drills as rehearsals for an invasion and used them to justify its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, North Korea’s ambassador, Kim Song, defended the North's nuclear and ICBM programs as a necessary response to what it perceives as nuclear threats from the United States. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood warned that the U.S. cannot stand back from North Korea’s expanding nuclear program and the growing threat to U.S. security “without a response.”

Wood also repeated last week’s call for Russia to say whether there are North Korean troops on the ground in Russia. “We’re not in a court here,” Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva replied, “and the questions of the United States, in the spirit of an interrogation, is not something I intend to answer.”

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV screen shows a report of North Korea's multiple short-range ballistic missiles with file footage during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to journalists following North Korea's latest missile launches, at his office in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says a test launch of new intercontinental ballistic missile "Hwasong-19" at an undisclosed stie in North Korea Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, supervises artillery firing drills in North Korea, on March 7, 2024. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)

FILE - A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post flying a national flag, seen from Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)