Legendary jazz composer, singer/songwriter and record producer Quincy Jones rose to prominence during the 1960s as one of R&B's most beloved figures. Despite his initial financial struggles and a racially biased music industry, he spent the decade collaborating with some of the most influential artists of all time, such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Ftizgerald, while building upon his own solo career with records such as Walking in Space and Big Band Bossa Nova. Jones scored his first film in 1964, making Sidney Lumet's The Pawnbroker the first of several films he would compose a soundtrack for. His most successful compositions came in the 1970s, with albums such as You've got it Bad, Girl and Body Heat, though his most renowned production work would come in the next decade. In 1979, Jones produced Michael Jackson's acclaimed 1979 solo record, Off the Wall, marking the beginning of a lucrative partnership between Jones and Jackson. Together they would produce 1987's Bad and the highest selling album of all time Thriller, which was originally released in 1982. A master of both music and the business side of music, Jones has managed to maintain his half-century long career as a revered name in music by adapting to changing times and changing sounds.
