Quincy Jones’ cause of death was revealed nearly a fortnight after his passing on November 3. According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ on Wednesday, November 13, the legendary musician died of pancreatic cancer, with no other contributing factors to his death at age 91.
Before his death, Jones did not publicly share his cancer diagnosis.
“Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. Although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life he lived and know there will never be another like him,” Jones’ family said in a statement, as reported by multiple celebrity news outlets.
His children, Jolie, 71, whom he shared with his first wife, Jeri Caldwell; Martina, 58, and Quincy III, whom he shared with his second wife, actress Ulla Andersson; Rachel, 61, whom he shared with ex-girlfriend Carol Reynolds; Kidada, 50, and actress Rashida, 48, whom he shared with his third wife, Peggy Lipton; and daughter Kenya, 31, whom he shared with ex-girlfriend Nastassja Kinski, survive him.
Following her father’s death, Rashida shared an emotional tribute.
“My dad was nocturnal his whole life. 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,” Rashida wrote via Instagram on November 7. She described her father as love personified and shared how he would never send her back to bed after she found him composing somewhere in the house late at night. Instead, he would smile, bring her into his arms, and continue scribbling ideas on sheet music.
Jones’s musical legacy includes achievements such as being the second most-awarded Grammy artist of all time, with 28 Grammy Awards.
As a producer and arranger, he collaborated with giants like Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, and Aretha Franklin.
Beyond his musical prowess, Jones’s cultural reach extended to attending state dinners with figures like Picasso, celebrating birthdays with Nelson Mandela, and retreating to Marlon Brando’s island in the South Pacific to recover from a breakdown. He oversaw President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration celebration and supervised the all-star recording of We Are the World, the iconic 1985 record for famine relief.
One week after his death, Jones’s family gathered for a private funeral in Los Angeles. Though no further details about the memorial were shared, the family expressed gratitude through the Associated Press for the outpouring of condolences and tributes from friends and admirers worldwide.
