Over his career that spanned more than 75 years, he won 28 Grammy awards and was named as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century by Time magazine.
He worked closely with Frank Sinatra early in his career and reworked the crooner’s classic Fly Me To The Moon, taking it from a waltz to a swing.
In the film The Wiz, Jones found himself working alongside a 19-year-old Michael Jackson. He went on to produce Jackson’s album Off the Wall which sold 20 million copies.
He also produced the pop star’s follow-ups, Thriller and Bad.
In 1985, Jones gathered 46 of America’s most popular singers of the time, including Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper to record We Are the World.
Jones co-wrote the song to raise money for those suffering from a devastating famine in Ethiopia.
The record was the US equivalent to Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas.
The hit reached number one in the UK and the US and was performed at Live Aid.