Quincy Jones's Profile and Biography,aslo include Quincy Jones's pictures,videos etc.

Quincy Jones

Quincy Delight Jones Jr. was born March 14, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, but moved to Bremerton, a Seattle suburb, with his father and stepmother at an early age. Jones' foray into music began when he was merely an elementary school student, as he became passionate for the trumpet.

A teenage Quincy had his next brush with music upon meeting a local 17-year-old musician by the name of Ray Charles. Having forged a friendship, the duo of Charles and Jones played at local clubs and weddings, Jones on the trumpet and Charles on piano and vocals. Jones' hands-on experience of arranging music with Charles, led to Jones' entrance into the renowned Berklee School of Music in Boston on scholarship, but he soon dropped out when he was offered the chance to play with Lionel Hampton's big bang.

working with music royalty

Jones moved on to bigger and better opportunities as a freelance arranger, and his client roster in the 1950s included names like Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, and of course, Ray Charles. Jones never neglected his trumpet though, and toured with the Dizzy Gillepsie band in 1956, as a trumpeter and music director, and later saw the release of his first albums for ABC Paramount Records.

Quincy Jones next moved to Paris, where he studied classical composition with Nadia Boulanger, and in 1959, led an all-star big band for Free and Easy, the European production of the jazz musical. With more experience in musical direction and composition under his belt, Jones returned to the US in 1961, where he became vice president of Mercury Records, making history as one of the first African-Americans to hold such an executive position in the industry. At Mercury, his production skills were partly responsible for '60s hits like "It's My Party," "I Can't Stop Loving You" (which garnered him a Grammy) and Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon."

Working on the production side of music wasn't enough for Quincy Jones, who returned to work on his solo career with A&M Records in 1969. Jones' musical career alone could have been enough for other musicians and composers, but not for this music impresario, whose discography includes 1961's Quintessence, 1969's Walking in Space, 1971's Smackwater Jack, 1973's You've Got It Bad, Girl (marking his first time as a singer), 1974's Body Heat, 1981's The Dude, and 1990's Back on the Block (Jones' foray into a more rap sound). Each album earned Jones a number of accolades and Grammy awards.

jonesin' for quincy

In the midst of recording albums, Jones suffered a cerebral aneurysm, which meant that playing the trumpet became nearly impossible after two operations. But after six months of recuperating, Jones' return to the music industry was marked with the establishment of his Qwest Records in 1975, responsible for some of the greatest music to hit the R&B and pop industries, by artists like Donna Summer, James Ingram, Chaka Khan, and some guy named Michael Jackson.

Quincy Jones met the future King of Pop in 1978, when he composed the score for the film The Wiz, which starred Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and Richard Pryor. With Jones on the production end of Jackson's debut solo album, 1979's Off the Wall, a huge star was born in Michael. The Gloved One went on the make history with the colossal hits Thriller and Bad.

Another super talent had Jones to thank for his success: Will Smith. Quincy Jones was the producer for Smith's hugely successful TV series, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, from 1990 until 1996, in the days when the young rapper was merely known to audiences as The Fresh Prince rather than Hollywood actor Will Smith (who has made reference to "the power of Q").

By the '90s, Quincy Jones already had experience working in both movies and television. In the 1960s, Jones composed film scores and contributed to soundtracks for films like The Pawnbroker (his first film score, and the first time an African-American composed music for a major Hollywood picture), In Cold Blood (which garnered him an Academy Award nomination), Banning, and For Love of Ivy. His success continued in the 1980s with his score composition for The Color Purple, which he also co-produced. As for television, after picking up an Emmy for the theme and background music for 1977's Roots, Jones was responsible for the themes of Sanford and Son, The Bill Cosby Show and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

In addition to Jones' contribution to music, television and movies, he entered the publishing world by launching Vibe magazine in 1992. He even served as executive-producer of Fox's Mad TV as of 1995, and executive-produced the Academy Awards telecast in 1998.

no "qwest"ioning his success

"Q," as he is referred to by friends, returned to the music scene with his 16th solo outing, From Q With Love. He has received at least 75 Grammy nominations -- an amount unmatched by any artist -- and has won about 26.

To add to Jones' accomplishments, he has worked to benefit world hunger by arranging and producing 1985's all-star Grammy Award winning hit, "We Are the World," and has worked toward economic development in inner cities and promoting African-American music and culture. Among his many awards, he has also been honored with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

A master in almost every form of entertainment and all genres of music, from pop and soul to jazz and classical, Quincy Jones' married life has been just as diverse. He was married to his childhood sweetheart Jeri Caldwell from 1957 until 1966, followed by his marriage to model Ulla Anderson, with whom he has two children, before marrying actress Peggy Lipton in 1974 and divorcing her in 1990. Among Quincy Jones' children is Boston Public star Rashida Jones, one of his daughters with Peggy Lipton. After three walks down the altar, Jones lived with actress Nastassja Kinski from 1991 until 1997 -- the two have a daughter, Kenia.

Quincy Jones is truly a 20th century legend and visionary who has seen everything he has touched turn to gold, and although he apparently has never learned to drive a car, he has surely ridden on a long road of success.