The Pop Corporation

What is there to say about Quincy Jones that everyone hasn’t already said since his passing this weekend? What an extraordinary human and what a life!

He produced ‘Thriller’, which is enough for any other mere mortal, but he worked for 75 glorious years, including 28 Grammies, collaborations with Sinatra, Ray Charles, helped shape ‘We Are The World’, produced The Wiz, wrote the soundtrack to Ironside and The Italian Job, produced The Color Purple which pretty much gave the world Oprah and Whoopi Goldberg, was the power behind The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, worked with Sarah Vaughan, George Benson’s ‘Give Me The Night’, Donna Summer, was the culture that elevated ‘It’s My Party’ by Leslie Gore, gave some welly to James Ingram and Michael McDonald’s ‘Yah Mo B There’, Aretha, was pals with Charlie Parker and Miles Davis, was the first African American to be nominated for best original song at the Oscars, created the media company Qwest Broadcasting, stumped up to create the music magazine Vibe, narrowly avoided getting killed by Charles Manson’s Family, ‘They Call Me Mister Tibbs!’, Dizzie Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Bob James, Rufus and Chaka Khan, and the list incredibly, goes on.

He wrote ‘Soul Bossa Nova’, which fused jazz and bossa, which you’ll know from elsewhere.

An absolute titan of a man, who touched so many genres, made so many lives richer, paved the way for other artists, reinvented them, opened doors for countless who would become megastars and was a hugely lively and influential character in the world.

Jones died Sunday night at his home in Bel Air, California, surrounded by his family.

A statement said: “Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him. He is truly one of a kind and we will miss him dearly; we take comfort and immense pride in knowing that the love and joy, that were the essence of his being, was shared with the world through all that he created. Through his music and his boundless love, Quincy Jones’ heart will beat for eternity.”

Let us rightfully finish on one of Quincy’s solo productions. Something he excelled so well in – making people move.