Legendary music producer and composer Quincy Jones died from pancreatic cancer, confirms a death certificate from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health that was obtained Wednesday by multiple media outlets.
The document also noted Jones, who was 91 years old, had lived with cancer for years when he died Nov. 3. While he has already been laid to rest by those closest to him, a larger memorial is being planned in his honor, The Associated Press reported.
Pancreatic cancer is rarely discovered in its early stages and thus often leads to a dire prognosis, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Jones was widely celebrated on social media, with tributes from the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Caine and LL Cool J showcasing his cultural reach. His daughter, actor Rashida Jones of “Parks and Recreation” fame, paid tribute last Thursday on Instagram.
“My dad was nocturnal his whole adult life,” she wrote. “He kept ‘jazz hours’ starting in high school and never looked back. When I was little, I would wake up in the middle of the night to search for him. Undoubtedly, he would be somewhere in the house, composing.”
“He would never send me back to bed,” Rashida added. “He would smile and bring me into his arms while he continued to work…there was no safer place in the world for me. He was a giant. An icon. A culture shifter. A genius … Daddy, it is an honor to be your daughter.”
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Jones certainly curated a discography that few could ever match. He not only composed the acclaimed score for “Roots” and the beloved theme song for “Sanford and Son,” but collaborated with Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra and produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
A child of divorce with an early passion for music, Jones started out in the school choir in Bremerton, Washington, outside Seattle at 10 years old — only to stick with it into adulthood to win 28 Grammys and become one of the first successful Black executives in Hollywood.