Quincy Jones to Receive Honorary Oscar for ‘Exceptional Contributions’ to Film

It’s hard to believe, but Quincy Jones has never taken home a competitive Oscar.

The 91-year-old music legend has been nominated seven times in the past.

He received nominations for bringing the music to life on Banning (1967), In Cold Blood (1967), For Love of Ivy (1968), The Wiz (1978), and The Color Purple (1985). Jones  was also the first Black producer to be nominated for best picture (The Color Purple), and he received the film academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1995.

Now the 28-time Grammy winner is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the Academy’s Governors Awards in November.

Honorary Oscars are given “to honor extraordinary distinction in lifetime achievement, exceptional contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences of any discipline, or for outstanding service to the Academy.”

Related Story:Angela Bassett Says Honorary Oscar Wasn’t a Gift: ‘I Earned It’

This year’s other recipients include legendary casting director Juliet Taylor, who will also receive an honorary Oscar.

The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award will go to screenwriter and director Richard Curtis.

The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award will go to James Bond franchise producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

“The recipients of this year’s Governors Awards have set the bar incredibly high across their remarkable careers, and the Academy’s Board of Governors is thrilled to recognize them with Oscars,” Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement this week.

“The selection of Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli is a testament to their success as producers of the fan-favorite Bond series and their contribution to the industry’s theatrical landscape,” Yang added. “Richard Curtis is a brilliant comedic storyteller whose tremendous charitable efforts embody the meaning of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. Quincy Jones’s artistic genius and relentless creativity have made him one of the most influential musical figures of all time. Juliet Taylor has cast iconic and beloved films and paved a new path for the field.”

The statuettes will be awarded at the 15th Academy’s Governors Awards on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Quincy Jones has scored many other films. Watch a video of some of his work below.