When Quincy Jones defied death and attended his own 'funeral' about half a century ago
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Quincy Jones didn’t just help create hits like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'; he also beat some seriously grim odds to keep going long enough to do it.
Way back in 1974, the legendary producer was told he had just a 1% chance of surviving after a brain aneurysm nearly ended it all for him. But he wasn't about to let that be the end of his story.
Recalling that terrifying time, Quincy told GQ in 2018: “It was scary. Like somebody blew my brains out. The main artery to your brain explodes, you know.”
Imagine hearing that and then facing a seven-and-a-half-hour brain surgery, only to find out that there was a second aneurysm waiting for him. Things looked so bleak that his friends in the industry began planning his memorial service. Yes, they were preparing to say goodbye — but Quincy had other plans.
When Quincy Jones' 'funeral' turned into a celebration
In 2008, Quincy Jones shared with The Hollywood Reporter just how close he came to the end. “I had one aneurysm that erupted, and it didn’t look like I’d make it, so my friends planned a memorial service,” he said. “Well, I made it, but they had the concert anyway.”
So, there he was at the Shrine Auditorium — attending his own "farewell" party that was packed with legends like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Richard Pryor, and Sarah Vaughan.
“The doctor said, ‘The good news is you lived through the first one, but you have another, and we have to go back in two months,'” he told the outlet. “He said I could go to the concert, but I couldn’t get excited. How do I not get excited looking at Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye and Billy Eckstine and Cannonball Adderley?”
“The neurologist sat with me to make sure I didn’t get into trouble,” he continued. “I still have a great picture of Sidney Poitier and me hugging each other from that night.”
In 2018, Quincy reflected on the experience with a bit of dark humor. “I basically attended my own funeral … It was special to see so many people there to celebrate what would’ve been my 41 years of life," he posted on social media.
Quincy Jones' life after 'death'
Surviving that ordeal didn’t just keep Quincy Jones going; it seemed to fuel a creative explosion. He would go on to produce 'Off the Wall', 'Thriller', and 'Bad' with Michael Jackson, each album adding new records to his resume.
He didn’t stop there, either. Quincy’s work included his own Grammy-winning albums 'The Dude' and 'Back on the Block', plus projects like the massive charity single 'We Are the World' and 'The Color Purple', which he brought to both screen and stage.
But there was one cost: he couldn’t play the trumpet anymore. Doctors had surgically implanted a clip on a blood vessel in his brain, and it made playing his beloved trumpet too painful. “I couldn’t get away with it, man,” he confessed to GQ. “I missed the trumpet … I finger all the time. But I can’t touch it.”
Quincy’s story of survival goes beyond just the aneurysm scare. Back in 1969, he narrowly missed being a victim in the Manson family murders because he decided to skip a party at Sharon Tate’s house on the very night she and others were tragically killed, the New York Post reported.
Looking back on these brushes with death, Quincy saw it all as part of his journey. As he told the Los Angeles Daily News in 1991, “The surgery became very liberating. I felt I had nothing to lose … After the surgery, I had this vision of what I wanted to do with my life.”
