Quincy Jones leaves behind an incredible fortune for seven children, including Rashida Jones

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Quincy Jones, the legendary record producer and 28-time Grammy winner, has died at the age of 91. His publicist confirmed that he died on November 3 at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles, surrounded by his family.

Over his decades-long career, Jones earned the title of one of the most celebrated musicians and producers in history, particularly through his collaborations with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

In fact, it was his first meeting with Jackson that would later make Jones one of the most successful music producers in the world. Jones not only produced Jackson's 1982 album thrillerthe best-selling album of all time, but his composing credits also include the scores for 1967 Cold-blooded and 1985s The color purple. Jones also had an illustrious career in television, serving as an executive producer The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airwhich made actor Will Smith a star.

From record sales and royalties to multimedia businesses and real estate, Jones' seven children – including his actor daughter Rashida Jones – will inherit an incredible fortune after his death.

After spending much of his early career touring in jazz bands, he got his big break from Mercury Records president Irving Green, who offered Jones a personal loan and a job as vice president of Mercury, making him the first black man to do so who held this position.

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In 1958, Jones worked for the first time with legendary crooner Frank Sinatra, a professional relationship that would later turn into a close friendship. After his death in 1998, the “Fly Me To The Moon” singer even left Jones a ring with his family's coat of arms. In a March 9, 2016 Facebook post, Jones shared a black and white photo of the oval ring he wore on his pinky finger.

“This is the ring that bears Frank Sinatra's family crest from Sicily,” Jones captioned the post. “Francis wore it for 40 years before he left it to me when he died, and I wear it every day. It is one of my most treasured possessions because it represents our eternal friendship and will continue to do so.”

Earlier this year, a similar gold ring that Sinatra gave to Tony Bennett sold at auction for $63,500. According to Julien's Auctions, Sinatra commissioned 12 examples of his own gold pinky ring with the Sinatra family crest – a crowned, rampant lion with three stars – to give as gifts to close friends and family members.

Jones wrote several films in the 1960s including: cold-blooded, For this he received his first Oscar nomination in the Best Original Music category. After its premiere in 1967 Cold-blooded earned an estimated $13 million in the US – about $122.54 million today.

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The 1980s were one of the most successful periods in Jones' career. He had approached filmmaker Steven Spielberg after securing the adaptation rights to Alice Walker's 1982 novel The color purple and convinced Spielberg to direct the film, with himself serving as co-producer and composer. The color purple After its theatrical release, the film grossed an estimated $98.47 million in the United States and Canada and received eleven Academy Award nominations in 1986.

Jones was also involved in the musical adaptation of the 2023 film The color purplewho again served as a producer alongside Spielberg. However, the second adaptation of the novel achieved significantly less success at the box office, grossing $67.5 million despite an estimated budget of $100 million.

While working on the 1978 film The magicianJones began his first collaboration with Jackson for his album Away from the wall, which was released the following year. Away from the wall Since then, it has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, only to be surpassed by the duo's second collaboration. thriller. In just one year, Jackson's 1982 album sold 32 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of all time. Since its release in November 1982 thriller has sold an estimated 70 million copies worldwide.

However, Jones' illustrious career, during which he produced some of Jackson's biggest hits, also led to a legal battle following the King of Pop's death in 2009. In July 2017, Jones won a lawsuit against Jackson's estate for $9.4 in damages Millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. In 2020, Jones lost on appeal and was ordered to pay back $6.8 million.

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Much of Jones' financial success was later due to his achievements as an entrepreneur. In collaboration with Warner Bros Records, Jones founded the music label Qwest Records in 1980. Ten years later, he founded his own multimedia company with Time Warner called Quincy Jones Entertainment, which included a wide range of programming and publishing activities.

As chairman and CEO of Quincy Jones Entertainment, he produced the popular sitcom Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which aired on NBC from September 1990 to May 1996. As the founder of hip-hop magazine, Jones also ventured into publishing Mood in 1993 and published TURN And Blaze Magazines.

Through his broadcasting company Qwest Broadcasting, Jones acquired television stations in Atlanta and New Orleans for $167 million, making it the largest minority broadcasting company in the United States at the time.

According to the APQuincy Jones Entertainment was sold in 1999 for $270 million. In 2001, Qwest Records closed after Warner Music Group reportedly bought out Jones' 50 percent stake in the label for an estimated $10 million. In the meantime, Mood The magazine ceased publication after 16 years after it was sold to venture capital firm Wicks Capital in 2009 for an estimated $35 million. SpinMedia was later acquired Mood in 2013 for an undisclosed amount.

Jones is a long-time resident of the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. In 2005, the music mogul sold his former Bel Air home for almost the asking price of $5.4 million. Accordingly the Los Angeles TimesJones moved to a 25,000-square-foot compound he built in West Los Angeles.

Jones was married three times, first for nine years until 1966 to his high school sweetheart Jeri Caldwell, with whom he shared his first child, Jolie. With his second wife Ulla Andersson, to whom he was married, he had a son and a daughter for seven years until he divorced her to get married Twin Peaks Star Peggy Lipton. They had two daughters, including actress Rashida Jones, before divorcing in 1989.

Jones did not remarry, but had two more children, Rachel and Kenya, with dancer Carol Reynolds and actress Nastassja Kinski, respectively.