Veteran record producer Quincy Jones died on November 3, 2024, in his Los Angeles home, leaving the music industry shattered. Known as the person behind the rise of Michael Jackson, Jones also sued the King of Pop over unpaid royalties.
In 2017, a jury awarded Jones $9.4 million after a civil case in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Jones argued that breaches of contract dating back to the 1970s and ’80s had cost him millions in royalties.
Quincy Jones collaborated with Michael Jackson on the albums Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad, which sold over 100 million copies globally together. He claimed that the master recordings had been improperly remixed, leading to a shortfall in his royalty and production fees per agreements signed with Jackson in 1978 and 1985.
The Jackson estate acknowledged a minor accounting error, estimating it owed Jones around $392,000, far less than the $30 million he sought. Jones had initially filed a $10-million breach-of-contract suit in 2013 against Sony Music Entertainment, Jackson’s label Epic Records’ parent company, and MJJ Productions, controlled by Jackson’s estate.
Quincy Jones claimed unpaid royalties and licensing fees for songs he produced that were featured posthumously in This Is It and in Cirque du Soleil shows Immortal and One.
His contracts entitled him to a share of royalties for work with Jackson, but his attorneys and the estate disputed whether Jones was entitled to profits from Jackson’s 1991 joint venture with Sony or only to licensing fees from films like This Is It.
Quincy Jones said the lawsuit was never about Michael Jackson
As per an LA Times report, Jones clarified that his lawsuit was never directed at Michael Jackson or his family. He also noted that the Jackson family even supported him, with Jermaine Jackson reaching out to assure him of their full backing.
Instead, Quincy Jones placed responsibility on the lawyers representing Jackson’s estate, noting issues around credit and compensation in the This Is It documentary, which profited extensively from Jackson’s work but failed to credit Jones for producing the songs. He explained that the estate made substantial profits, while his compensation offer was comparatively minimal, which he rejected.
Howard Weitzman, the attorney for Jackson’s estate, disputed Jones' claims, asserting that Jones received the royalties he was contractually owed for producing the songs used in This Is It and had no involvement with the film itself. During a conversation with Vulture in 2018, Quincy Jones said,
“I hate to get into this publicly, but Michael stole a lot of stuff. He stole a lot of songs. State of Independence and Billie Jean. The notes don't lie, man. He was as Machiavellian as they come.”
Quincy Jones added that Jackson had been greedy and should have given keyboardist Greg Phillinganes partial writing credit on the song Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. Michael Jackson's family, however, did not take these remarks lightly.
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Michael Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, offered a different perspective, saying he felt that Quincy Jones might have been envious of Michael’s talent, which he believed Jones had not seen in any other artist he had worked with.
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