[1] Jones composed numerous film scores including for The Pawnbroker (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967), In Cold Blood (1967), The Italian Job (1969), The Wiz (1978), and The Color Purple (1985).

[8] His mother also had European ancestry, including Lanier male ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, making him eligible for membership in the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

After one semester, he transferred to what is now the Berklee College of Music in Boston on another scholarship,[14] where he played at Izzy Ort's Bar & Grille with Bunny Campbell and Preston Sandiford, whom he cited as important influences.

It took the myopic conflict between just black and white in the United States and put it on another level because you saw the turmoil between the Armenians and the Turks, and the Cypriots and the Greeks, and the Swedes and the Danes, and the Koreans and the Japanese.

[16] In early 1956, he accepted a temporary job at CBS' Stage Show hosted by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey that was broadcast live from Studio 50 in New York City (known today as the Ed Sullivan Theater).

Soon after, as a trumpeter and musical director for Dizzy Gillespie, Jones went on tour of the Middle East and South America sponsored by the United States Information Agency.

[citation needed] Jones first worked with Frank Sinatra in 1958 when invited by Princess Grace to arrange a benefit concert at the Monaco Sporting Club.

[25] Jones was also the arranger/conductor when Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Johnny Carson performed with the Basie orchestra in June 1965 in St. Louis, Missouri, in a benefit for Dismas House.

[citation needed] His film credits over the next seven years came to include Walk, Don't Run, The Deadly Affair, In Cold Blood, In the Heat of the Night, Mackenna's Gold, The Italian Job, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Cactus Flower, The Out-of-Towners, They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, The Anderson Tapes, $ (Dollars), and The Getaway.

[citation needed] In the 1960s, Jones worked as an arranger for Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Horn, Peggy Lee, Nana Mouskouri, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington.

His solo recordings included Walking in Space, Gula Matari, Smackwater Jack, You've Got It Bad Girl, Body Heat, Mellow Madness, and I Heard That!!

[citation needed] His 1981 album The Dude yielded the hits "Ai No Corrida" (a remake of a song by Chaz Jankel), "Just Once", and "One Hundred Ways", both sung by James Ingram.

Jones, Thomas Newman, and Alan Silvestri are the only composers besides John Williams to have written scores for a Steven Spielberg-directed theatrical feature film.

When people marveled at his ability to make the collaboration work, Jones explained that he had taped a sign on the entrance reading "Check Your Ego at the Door".

The episode was notable for having 10 musical guests,[41][unreliable source] the most any SNL episode has had in its years on the air: Tevin Campbell, Andrae Crouch, Sandra Crouch, rappers Kool Moe Dee and Big Daddy Kane, Melle Mel, Quincy D III, Siedah Garrett, Al Jarreau, and Take 6, and for a performance of Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca" by the SNL Band, conducted by Jones.

[42] In 1993, Jones collaborated with David Salzman to produce the concert An American Reunion, a celebration of Bill Clinton's inauguration as President of the United States.

To this day, the music we created together on Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad is played in every corner of the world, and the reason for that is because he had it all ... talent, grace, professionalism, and dedication.

"[45] Jones appeared in the 1999 Walt Disney Pictures animated film Fantasia 2000, introducing the set piece of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

[51] In 2010, Jones, along with brand strategist Chris Vance, co-founded Playground Sessions, a NY City-based developer of subscription software that teaches people to play the piano using interactive videos.

[57][58] In January 2022, Jones appeared on the album Dawn FM by Canadian singer the Weeknd, performing a monolog in the sixth track, "A Tale by Quincy".

Meeting at the Los Angeles Landmark Variety Arts Center, the workshops educated and honed the skills of inner-city youth in musicianship, acting, and songwriting.

He was the founder of the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, a nonprofit organization that built more than 100 homes in South Africa and which aimed to connect youths with technology, education, culture, and music.

[32] In 2004, Jones helped to launch the We Are the Future (WAF) project, which gave children in poor and conflict-ridden areas a chance to live their childhoods and develop a sense of hope.

The program was the result of a strategic partnership between the Global Forum, the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, and Hani Masri, with the support of the World Bank, UN agencies, and major companies.

He worked with the foundation to save the homes and lives of America's elderly jazz and blues musicians, including those who had survived Hurricane Katrina.

[80] Jones claimed to have knowledge of the truth of the Kennedy assassination, stating his belief that mobster Sam Giancana was responsible, as well as outing sexual relationships Marlon Brando had with James Baldwin, Richard Pryor, and Marvin Gaye.

[93] President Joe Biden issued a statement praising Jones as "a great unifier, who believed deeply in the healing power of music to restore hope and uplift those suffering from hunger, poverty, and violence, in America and the continent of Africa".

[94] Former President Barack Obama praised Jones for "building a career that took him from the streets of Chicago to the heights of Hollywood ... paving the way for generations of Black executives to leave their mark on the entertainment business".

[97] Numerous celebrities and public figures paid their tributes such as Steven Spielberg, Michael Caine, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Morgan Freeman, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Colman Domingo, Will Smith, Clive Davis and Berry Gordy.

[citation needed] Brazilian musicians Simone,[100] Ivan Lins,[101] Milton Nascimento and percussionist Paulinho da Costa[102] were close friends and partners in Jones's most recent works.