Quincy Jones Biography

Quincy Jones has worked as an arranger, composer and producer for some of the greatest performers of swing, jazz, blues and hip-hop, from Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra to Little Richard and Michael Jackson.

Quincy Jones was raised in Seattle and began studies in Boston at the prestigious Schillinger House (later Berklee College of Music) in Boston in 1951. But he left to tour with the band of Lionel Hampton, later touring with Dizzy Gillespie and others. He soon gained a reputation as an arranger and composer, and by the end of the decade he was leading his own bands.

Nicknamed “Q,” Jones also became a noted composer of film and television scores. He was especially active in the 1960s and 1970s: he composed moody, jazzy scores for films like In the Heat of the Night (1967, starring Sidney Poitier), The Anderson Tapes (1971, starring Sean Connery) and The Getaway (1972, starring Steve McQueen).

In his next incarnation, Jones became a superstar producer. He produced Michael Jackson’s biggest hit albums, including Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987), and was also the producer and conductor for the famous “We Are The World” charity single in 1985.

Quincy Jones is also the founder of VIBE magazine and Qwest Broadcasting, and has won more than two dozen Grammys. Quincy Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.