The Weeknd publicly joined the hordes of music lovers mourning the momentous loss of Quincy Jones. In a post on X, the singer shared his foreword to Jones’ 2022 book 12 Notes: On Life and Creativity. “My fans know how important Quincy was to the fabric of my music,” he wrote. “I was given the opportunity to write a foreword to his book and tried to capture what he meant to me as a human. Let’s celebrate his life today.”
The two-page foreword started with The Weeknd echoing the sentiment of many by writing, “There are no words to accurately describe the man who Quincy Jones is,” and revealing, “Q was my idol in every sense of the word.” He also recounted the first time he met Jones after a 2015 performance at Drai’s nightclub in Vegas. The Weeknd rushed offstage after his performance to speak with Jones, who told him to greet his fans first because they were “more important.” The Weeknd expressed that the moment reminded him that “nothing is more important than the people around me.”
The Weeknd previously recalled the moment during a tearful acceptance speech for the Black Music Action Coalition’s inaugural Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award in 2021. “To say this was an honor is an understatement,” the foreword noted.
Earlier today, Jones’ family released a statement revealing that the 91-year-old producer, composer, and seemingly everything else died on Sunday at his Bel Air home.
From Rolling Stone US