Jones died on Sunday, Nov.3 at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family

Quincy Jones. Photo: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty

Legendary musician Quincy Jones has died. He was 91.

Jones’ publicist, Arnold Robinson, told the Associated Press that he died on Sunday, Nov.3 at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing,” the family said in a statement, per AP. “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.”

The musician is survived by children: Rashida Jones, Kidada Jones, Kenya Kinski-Jones, Quincy Jones III, Jolie Jones Levine, Martina Jones, and Rachel Jones. He is also survived by grandchildren: Isaiah Jones Koenig, Quincy Renzo Delight Jones IV and Nea Jones. He is godfather to actor-musician Quincy Brown who was named after the music great.

Rashida and Quincy Jones. Rob Latour/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
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With 28 wins, Jones is the second most Grammy awarded artist of all time — he’s been nominated a record 80 times since 1961. The music icon has won Grammys for producer of the year thrice and he’s received two Grammy awards each for both album and song of the year.

He escaped death in 1974 when he was just 41 years old. The music extraordinaire had a brain aneurysm and underwent brain surgery but was told soon after that he had a second aneurysm ready to explode. He underwent surgery again. At the time, he was told he had a one-in-a-hundred chance of surviving.

At 14, Jones fled from the quarters of his abusive stepmom — whom he said didn’t call him by name until he was 57 — to join the National Guard, he revealed to GQ in 2018. He lied and said he was 18 to join, but was met with extreme racism. During this time, he and a group of friends were heading to a rodeo in Yakima when a trailway bus hit them. He says everybody in the car died except him — the scene was gruesome and left him traumatized. He attempted to take driving lessons a few years later but he “just couldn’t do it” and has never driven since.

Quincy Jones. Brad Barket/Getty
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Born on March 14, 1933, the Chicago native first rose to prominence as a trumpet player in bands for jazz music greats including Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie.

As a producer and arranger, Jones is partially behind the success of several music giants including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and more. He is the producer of Jackson’s iconic 1982 classic “Beat It.” Not only did Jones produce the hit, he also tapped late music virtuoso Eddie Van Halen to perform the track’s now legendary guitar solo.

Jones’ 1974 album Body Heat peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 chart. He has released 13 Hot 100 songs and a string of Top 20 albums.