‘Nobody had a career as incredible as Quincy Jones’ – Elton John

Sir Elton John has remembered record producer Quincy Jones as someone who had a more “incredible” career in music than anyone else.

Jones died on Sunday night aged 91 at his home in the Bel-Air area of Los Angeles, California, surrounded by his relatives, his publicist Arnold Robinson said.

On Instagram, Sir Elton shared an image of the jazz musician, known for collaborating with music stars including Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, with him at the Elton John Aids Foundation Oscar viewing party, and called him a “loyal supporter of this important fundraiser”.

He also wrote: “Nobody had a career as incredible as Quincy Jones. He played with the best and he produced the best. What a guy. Loved him.”

Tributes have come flooding in for Jones, including from British star Sir Michael Caine, US actors Colman Domingo, Will Smith and Whoopi Goldberg and jazz pop singer Jamie Cullum.

Goldberg, who was in The Color Purple, scored by Jones, wrote in an Instagram story: “I was lucky enough to have him in my life for all these years.

“My heart is breaking for his friends and his extended family who loved and adored him… my condolences.”

Jones co-produced Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of the Alice Walker novel, which starred Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, and the producer and director worked together again on the 2023 remake.

Domingo, who was in the recent version of the film, said in a post to his social media that he was “so thrilled to meet Mr American Music”, and added that he “kneeled because he was a King”.

Jones also helped to launch and executive produced hit US sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, starring Smith.

Smith wrote on Instagram: “Quincy Jones is the true definition of a mentor, a father and a friend. He pointed me toward the greatest parts of myself. He defended me. He nurtured me.

“He encouraged me. He inspired me. He checked me when he needed to. He let me use his wings until mine were strong enough to fly.”

Cullum, 45, who met Jones several times during the Montreux Jazz Festival, told BBC News that describing Jones as a legend or titan was “one of the cases where it’s entirely justified”.

“Not just in the early part, not just in the middle part, right up until the end of his life, he was still creating, still mentoring young artists, still creating ideas.

“And this was all, at the very bedrock of it, just grounded by this incredible talent and expertise that he honed over many years.”

British actor Sir Michael said in a post to X, formerly Twitter: “My Celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world. He was a wonderful and unique human being, lucky to have known him.”

Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, who was friends with Jones, shared a video that said “Rest In Power Quincy Jones. The Greatest of All Time”.

Bridgerton producer Shonda Rhimes wrote on Instagram: “A legend, a visionary, a pioneer. RIP to the incomparable Quincy Jones.”

Born on March 14 1933 in Chicago and raised in Seattle, Washington, Jones began studying trumpet while in junior high school and sang in a gospel quartet at the age of 12.

He started arranging and recording for artists including Ray Charles and Dinah Washington by the mid-1950s.

In 1989 he had made waves with his landmark album, Back On The Block, which was named album of the year at the 1990 Grammy Awards.

The jazz musician earned a total of seven Oscar nominations for his work on movies that included neo-noir crime film In Cold Blood (1967) and The Color Purple (1985).

In his lifetime, the music star won an Emmy, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a Tony and 28 Grammys.

He is one of the few people to have earned non-competitive EGOT status, a winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, where one of the awards was honorary or non-competitive.

Jones also collaborated with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Tony Bennett, as well as the “King of Pop” Jackson on his albums Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad.