A Golden Touch—A Golden Heart. Reading the biographies of icon Quincy Jones— musician, composer, producer, arranger, conductor— it would seem that everything Quincy Jones touches turns into gold (or at least platinum).
Named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, Quincy has received 28 Grammys and an entertainment industry record of 80 nominations. For three famously productive years, he was Frank Sinatra’s conductor and arranger producing, amongst others, the arrangement “Fly Me to The Moon” — the first music played on the moon in 1969 by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Quincy went on to produce Michael Jackson’s multi-platinum solo albums Off the Wall, Bad, and Thriller (the best-selling album of all time).
Quincy wrote 33 major motion picture scores, garnering 7 Oscar nominations and winning an Emmy Award for the musical score in “Roots.” In 1985, he debuted his film career and co-produced Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, which received 11 Oscar nominations and introduced Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey to film audiences. He also helped launch and executive produced NBC’s TV hit series The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. While receiving the most prestigious awards around the world, he wrote Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. The book immediately hit the Best-Seller lists of The New York Times, LA Times and The Wall Street Journal.
All the while, Quincy was always giving back. He pioneered the model of using celebrity influence to raise money and awareness for a cause with “We Are The World,” the best-selling single that he produced and conducted. That recording raised $63 million for Ethiopian famine relief. He worked tirelessly with Bono and Bob Geldof to raise billions to end third world debt.
Quincy also has deep compassion for children, especially disadvantaged children. In 2007, he wrote the award-winning musical score for the Closing Ceremony of the Special Olympics held in Shanghai, touching millions of children with developmental disabilities. His concern for the disadvantaged community is also epitomized in his Project Q, a Harvard School of Public Health collaboration, and his work with Global Down Syndrome Foundation and the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome at Anschutz Medical Campus.
Global Down Syndrome Foundation proudly recognizes Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award winners each year in honor of Quincy’s leadership and life-changing humanitarian work. We are humbled and thrilled that Quincy is in Denver tonight to raise funds to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome.
See Quincy at GLOBAL’s Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show:
