Jamie Foxx honored Quincy Jones who received a posthumous honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar at the 2024 Governors Awards on Sunday (Nov. 17).
As Foxx presented the award to Jones’ children, he spoke about the impact of the late icons’ impact
“I’m here to talk about a legend, a friend, [and] an inspiration… Even though he lived 91 years, still gone too soon,” Foxx said. “Tonight we pay tribute to him for the creativity and the brilliance he brought to cinema,”
Foxx even shared how Jones’ insight helped him prepare to play Ray Charles in the acclaimed biopic.
“I was tryna put the character together, but I had met the old Ray Charles. I needed to know who the young Ray Charles was before I did the movie,” Foxx continued. “So I went to Quincy […] It was amazing because Quincy said let me get something for you to help you and he went in his room and he found a cassette tape.”
On the tape, Dinah Shore introduces Charles along with Kenny Rogers. After watching the tape, Foxx said he got what he needed to play Charles.
According to Foxx, Jones’ legacy will last forever.
“[His] impact will never be forgotten. Quincy, thank you for giving the world music. Thank you for giving the world light,” Foxx added. “Thank you for giving the world an example of what a great human being is supposed to be like.”
At the ceremony, Rashida Jones spoke on behalf of the family. She read a speech that her father wrote before his passing.
“As a teenager growing up in Seattle, I would sit for hours in the theater and dream about composing for films […] I knew that creating music for film was something that I longed to do,” Jones shared. “From those beginnings to the present, I was always keenly aware of the enormous power that we possessed as filmmakers that the art we created, the stories we told, if we were lucky, had the chance to move people in ways that they could never imagine and I’m so so proud of the fact that my name and contributions can be included in that evolution.”
Over his career that spanned more than seven decades, Quincy Jones was one of the most accomplished musicians in American popular music. Among his many accolades are 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. He also received seven Academy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
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