WBC mourns the passing of Quincy Jones

Famed music producer Quincy Jones, who worked with such great artists as Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, has passed away at his home in Los Angeles, California surrounded by his family.

Born on March 14, 1933 on the South Side of Chicago, Jones rose from tough beginnings in his hometown, to the highest peaks of show business.

He became one of the first African-American executives to prosper in Hollywood and amassed a musical catalogue that includes some of the richest moments in the American industry.

His activism in favor of civil rights was a fundamental element in his life. In the sixties he publicly supported Martin Luther King Jr. and years later he joined Bono in his humanitarian efforts in addition to founding an NGO called The Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation, which is dedicated to building houses in Africa and teaching music classes for youth.

Quincy worked with Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, toured with Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, arranged records for Frank Sinatra and forged a personal and musical relationship with the singer, but his greatest accolades probably come from his productions with Michael Jackson.

He was awarded 28 Grammys, two honorary Academy Awards and an Emmy for Roots. He also received France’s Legion of Honor, the Rudolph Valentino Award from the Republic of Italy and a Kennedy Center Honor for his contributions to American culture.

He oversaw the recording of We Are the World, the 1985 benefit album for famine relief in Africa. Lionel Richie, who co-wrote that song and was one of the featured singers, would call Jones “the bandmaster.” In fact, in the documentary dedicated to that historic initiative, Pop’s Big Night, Richie says that Jones, who had become the head of the entire operation to bring together the music stars who participated in the recording, asked the musicians to leave their “egos at the door” when they entered the studio and to keep the song from being leaked, so that when it was released it would have a greater impact.

This beautiful song, “We Are the World” has become a hymn for the WBC, since at its annual conventions, a children’s choir from the host country is in charge of interpreting this beautiful melody at the opening of the annual event.

The entire WBC family sends Quincy’s family and friends our deepest condolences, as Quincy now joins Heaven’s Angelic Choir.

Rest in Peace…