Paul McCartney pays tribute to Quincy Jones:
Dear Quincy Jones has passed and left those of us who knew him feeling sad.
He was supremely talented, and I felt privileged to have known him for many years. He was friends with George Martin, the Beatles’ producer and, between the two of them, produced some very fine music.
Quincy or ‘Quince’ or ‘Q’, as he was known, always had a twinkle in his eye and had a very positive, loving spirit which infected everyone who knew him. His work with Michael Jackson is, of course, legendary and he had so many other strings to his musical bow.
My main recollections of him were always the private moments that we shared, and I will never stop thanking Nancy for always arranging to visit him when we were in Los Angeles. These visits were fun and inspiring.
His long career stretches back to the early days when he was a trumpet player, then a band leader, then a producer of many great records. But it is as a friend I would like to remember him. We always had fun in his presence and his legend will continue through the years, but it is those private moments we were lucky enough to have with the great man that I will always remember fondly.
We send our love and sympathies to his family and all his many friends.
– Paul