Pioneering producer and composer Quincy Jones passed away at the age of 91 on Nov. 3. Born on March 14, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, he spent seven decades breaking barriers as a songwriter, producer, and composer, amassing a fortune estimated at around $500 million.
Jones died inside his Bel Air mansion, according to Rolling Stone.
Genre Jumping
Throughout his career, Jones achieved many historic milestones, earning 28 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year in 1991 for “Back on the Block,” his jazzy R&B masterpiece that had musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Ice-T and Big Daddy Kane under one album.
His production work with artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Will Smith, Tupac, and Dr. Dre places him in a unique generational class.
Jones built a reputation in the music industry for his versatility in transforming genres and pioneering new musical eras.
He seamlessly fused jazz, pop, soul, hip-hop, and classical elements to create groundbreaking sounds.
Jones often combined acoustic and electronic elements, and his work heavily influenced hip-hop through sampling, with many of his productions becoming staples in hip-hop beats.
Jones’s legacy includes some of the King of Pop’s best-selling albums, including “Thriller,” “Off the Wall,” and “Bad.”
Thriller alone sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, making it one of the highest-selling albums in history, while his work on “Off the Wall” and “Bad” sold approximately 20 million and 45 million copies, respectively, marking them as monumental commercial hits.
The New Yorker in 2013 reported MJ’s “Thriller” and “Bad” were among the best selling albums of all time, the top 30, with “Thriller” being No. 1. “Bad” secured the No. 11 spot.
Through royalties from these iconic albums and his extensive work across multiple genres, various financial blogs estimate Jones’ net worth at around $500 million when he was alive.
Michael Jackson Lawsuit
Still, in 2013, Jones sued Jackson’s estate. According to Jones, he was owed millions in royalties and production fees on some of the Jackson’s greatest hits. In 2017, a jury verdict awarded Jones $9.4 million in royalties and fees from Jackson’s estate over the use of Jones-produced Jackson hits in the concert film “This Is It” and two Cirque du Soleil shows.
But in 2020, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal determined that the jury had misinterpreted a contract that should have been interpreted by the judge, AP reported. As a result, the court overturned $6.9 million that jurors had awarded to MJJ Productions for Quincy Jones’ work on iconic tracks like “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”
The appeals court ruled that Jones was wrongly awarded money from licensing fees, received more than the 10% royalty rate he was due for record sales, and was incorrectly compensated for remixes of Jackson’s master recordings.
The court did uphold $2.5 million of the original award, which Jones claimed he was owed for the use of his master recordings in “This Is It” and other fees.
Besides the record business, Jones also contributed to 40 motion picture soundtracks. He received seven Academy Award nominations, winning one, and was honored with the Kennedy Center Honors in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2013.
The late Jones is survived by his seven children, Rashida Jones, Kidada Jones, Kenya Kinski-Jones, Quincy Jones III, Jolie Jones Levine, Martina Jones, and Rachel Jones, Forbes reported.