Quincy Jones Tributes Flood In, As Michael Caine Pays Tribute To His “Celestial Twin”
Tributes to music icon Quincy Jones has been flooding in after his passing aged 91, with Michael Caine paying tribute to his “celestial twin.”
Jones died yesterday evening aged 91 at his home in Bel Air, leading to an outpouring of grief on social media from across the entertainment world.
Actor Caine, who was born just minutes apart from Jones on March 14, 1933, wrote on X: “My celestial twin Quincy was a titan in the musical world. He was a wonderful and unique human being, lucky to have known him.”
Jones provided the musical score for 1969 movie The Italian Job, which starred Caine as a recently criminal, who forms a gang to steal a cache of gold bullion being transported through Italy in an armoured truck.
The Color Purple actor Colman Domingo was among others paying tribute, writing on social media: “He asked, where are you from? Philly I replied, his eyes twinkled and he talked about the Uptown Theater. I was so thrilled to meet Mr. American Music himself. I literally kneeled because he was a King. Thank you Mr. Quincy Jones for giving us all the sound.”
Domingo starred in 2023’s The Color Purple, the musical feature reboot of the 1985 film of the same name Jones produced with Steven Spielberg. Jones was a producer on the modern version alongside the likes of the first film’s star Oprah Winfrey.
Jones — a musician, composer, producer and songwriter whose oeuvre spanned seven decades — was behind everything from Michael Jackson’s Thriller to frequent collaborations with Frank Sinatra, producing the big-screen adaptation of The Color Purple and composing some of the most memorable film and TV music ever has died.
He produced Thriller, which won four Grammys and became a cultural milestone. He also produced two more of Jackson’s bestselling albums, Off the Wall and Bad.
In 1964, he arranged and conducted Sinatra’s second album with Count Basie titled It Might as Well Be Swing and then collaborated with with the crooner on the live album, Sinatra at the Sands. Jones later produced what was to become the singer’s final album, L.A. Is My Lady, in 1984.
Jones also convinced Miles Davis to record what would be Davis’ final album, Miles & Quincy: Live at Montreux, three months before the jazz great’s death in 1991.
