Claim: Quincy Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor.

Quincy Delight Jones , Jr. -LRB- born March 14 , 1933 -RRB- , also known as `` Q '' , is an American record producer , actor , conductor , arranger , composer , musician , television producer , film producer , instrumentalist , magazine founder , entertainment company executive , and humanitarian . His career spans six decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations , and 28 Grammys , including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991 . He is best known for the role of himself in Yakety Yak , Take it Back , Trash Talk , and Fantasia 2000 .   Jones came to prominence in the 1950s as a jazz arranger and conductor , before moving on to work prolifically in pop music and film scores . In 1968 , Jones and his songwriting partner Bob Russell became the first African Americans to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song , their `` The Eyes of Love '' for the Universal Pictures film Banning . That same year , Jones was the first African American to be nominated twice within the same year for an Academy Award for Best Original Score , as he was also nominated for his work on the film In Cold Blood -LRB- 1967 -RRB- . In 1971 , Jones was the first African American to be named as the musical director and conductor of the Academy Awards ceremony . In 1995 , he was the first African American to receive the Academy 's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award . He is tied with sound designer Willie D. Burton as the African American who has been nominated for the most Oscars ; each has received seven nominations .   Jones was the producer , with Michael Jackson , of Jackson 's albums Off the Wall -LRB- 1979 -RRB- , Thriller -LRB- 1982 -RRB- , and Bad -LRB- 1987 -RRB- , as well as the producer and conductor of the 1985 charity song `` We Are the World '' , which raised funds for victims of destitution in Ethiopia .   In 2013 , Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner , alongside Lou Adler , of the Ahmet Ertegun Award . Among his awards , Jones was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century .