Remembering music icon Quincy Jones

LOS ANGELES - Quincy Jones, a maestro of American music and a titan of the entertainment industry who influenced nearly every popular genre, produced landmark albums and earned 80 Grammy Award nominations, died Sunday, his publicist said.

He was 91.

Jones "passed away peacefully" Sunday night at his home in Bel Air while surrounded by his family, according to his publicist, Arnold Robinson.

"Tonight, with full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones’ passing. And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him," Jones' family said in a statement.

In a prolific career that spanned more than 70 years, Jones established himself as a behind-the-scenes force and a gifted artist in his own right, working as an arranger, composer, songwriter and performer.

He left indelible imprints on jazz, pop, hip-hop and dozens of film and television soundtracks, collaborating with some of the most illustrious names in the American songbook, from Count Basie and Dinah Washington to Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Paul Simon.

He produced Michael Jackson’s smash record “Thriller,” as well as Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of “The Color Purple” and the NBC sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” — projects that helped bolster his legacy as a hit-maker and media mogul.