Academy Award-winning actor Michael Caine – who was born on the same day as Jones, March 14, 1933 – honored his “heavenly twin” as “a titan in the world of music.” Caine added: “He was a wonderful man and a unique human being, I was lucky to have known him.” (Jones also scored the 1969 heist film in which Caine starred.) The Italian job.)

Another actor, Colman Domingo, recalled meeting Jones and the producers, who asked him where he was from: “Philly, I answered, his eyes sparkled and he talked about the Uptown Theater. I was so excited to meet Mr. American Music in person. I literally knelt because he was a king. Thank you, Mr. Quincy Jones, for setting the tone for us.”

Domingo, who starred in the 2023 remake The colored people – which Jones produced after scoring Steven Spielberg's 1985 original – also said he hoped everyone would spend the day playing Jones' music to “send this brilliant King away…Why?” Because without this great man there would be no American music.”

Other tributes came from Nile Rodgers, who gave Jones several honorary hashtags – “leader, teacher, spirit, pioneer” – and producer Flying Lotus, who wrote of Jones: “He was absolutely the template.”

Elsewhere, playwright Jeremy O. Harris praised Jones' versatility and his “boundless” contribution to American culture. “Quincy Jones, literally born when the limits to how big a black boy could dream were unimaginably high, taught us that there are no limits,” he wrote, adding: First black person nominated for an Oscar for best Film music was nominated. The first black person was later nominated twice in the same year. The producer of arguably the greatest albums of the 20th century. An EGO. Father to some incredibly talented children and godfather to musicians around the world.”