How Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson’s Album Collaborations Changed Music History

The producer and singer worked on ‘Off the Wall,’ ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad,’ cementing the duo in music history

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones at the Grammy Awards in 1984. Photo: Chris Walter/WireImage

Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson’s collaborations are some of the greatest in music history.

Jones, the legendary producer who died on Nov. 3 at 91 years old, worked with many artists throughout his decades-long career including Jackson, who died in 2009. Their collaborations, Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad can be credited for crowning Jackson the King of Pop.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, they met when Jackson was 12 years old at Sammy Davis’ house. “I need you to help me find a producer,” Jones recalled Jackson saying. “I’m getting ready to do my first solo album.” And the rest was history.

Among the music the pair released includes “Billie Jean,” “Bad,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and of course “Thriller,” whose album became one of the bestselling albums of all time. Jones and Jackson earned nine No. 1 songs and sold millions of albums together.

Thriller won Jones a Grammy for album of the year along with record of the year for “Beat It” at the 1983 awards ceremony.

Their work together went beyond Jackson’s albums. In 1985, Jones produced “We Are the World” with the help of Jackson. The single that helped humanitarian aid in the U.S. and Africa and raised $75 million and took home four Grammys in 1986.

“I promise you in 50, 75, 100 years, what will be remembered is the music,” Jones said of Jackson in 2009 for a Los Angeles Times op-ed following his death.

“It’s no accident that almost three decades later, no matter where I go in the world, in every club and karaoke bar, like clockwork, you hear ‘Billie Jean,’ ‘Beat It,’ ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,’ ‘Rock with You’ and ‘Thriller.’ “

Jones and Jackson’s legacies alone are impressive but together cemented themselves in many historic ways. Here’s a look back at their consequential collaborations.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones in 1984.Bettmann/Getty

Off the Wall

The 1979 album, which was considered a turning point in Jackson’s career, included hits such as wedding reception staple “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” — the six-minute track which was unusual for radio stations, as per IndieWire — and “Rock with You.”

“Quincy Jones produced it and we had a ball,” Jackson said about the album in an interview with Blues & Soul via Rolling Stone. “It was the smoothest album I have ever been involved in. There was so much love, it was incredible. Everybody worked together so easily.”

Jones’ expertise helped Jackson define his musical style apart from his famous family’s band, The Jackson 5. “The ballads were what made Off the Wall a Michael Jackson album,” Jackson said, via Rolling Stone. “I’d done ballads with [my] brothers, but they had never been too enthusiastic about them and did them more as a concession to me than anything else.”

“Michael had moved from the realm of bubble-gum pop and planted his flag square in the heart of the musical pulse of the ‘80s,” Jones wrote in the Los Angeles Time in 2009. “but what came next, I don’t think any of us were ready for.”

Rolling Stone‘s 1979 review of the album said it “represents discofied post-Motown glamour at its classiest,” declaring it a “triumph.” Writing credits on the album go to Paul McCartney for “Girlfriend” and Stevie Wonder for “I Can’t Help It,” making its star power even more impressive.

Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in 2001.Kevin Kane/WireImage

Thriller

Jones recalled that working on the 1982 album as a whole was tiring, even though the album-titled track became a phenomenon.

“When we were finishing ‘Beat It,’ we had three studios going,” Jones told Rolling Stone in 2009, following Jackson’s death that year. “We had Eddie Van Halen in one; Michael was in another, singing a part through a cardboard tube; and we were mixing in another. We were working five nights and five days, with no sleep. And at one point, the speakers overloaded and caught on fire!”

Despite the intense atmosphere, Jones told The Guardian in 2014 things were “as loose as you can get!” working on the album. “We’d be joking and having fun. Are you kidding? You gotta know how to party. If you get uptight, the music’s going to sound like nothin’. I used to say, ‘Always leave a little room for God to walk in the room.’ “

Thriller included “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Billie Jean” and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing).” Variety reports that Thriller has sold over 110 million copies worldwide.

“Where lesser artists need a string section or a lusty blast from a synthesizer, Jackson need only sing to convey deep, heartfelt emotion,” Rolling Stone said about Jones’ production of the album in 1983.

Jackson also won eight Grammys for Thriller, including album of the year and record of the year, and broke through globally.

Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson in 1983.Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Gett

Bad

For the 1987 album, Jones took some inspiration from Jackson’s own life for their final collaboration. “All the turmoil [in Jackson’s life] was starting to mount up, so I said I thought it was time for him to do a very honest album writing all the songs. I suggested that for Bad,” Jones told Rolling Stone in 2017.

“I loved it every time we went in the studio, and that was a lot. We used to stay up five days and nights with no sleep when we were on a roll.” He added. “They were carrying second engineers out on stretchers. I was smoking 180 cigarettes a day. I don’t smoke anymore.”

Jackson was 29 at that point and embarked on his first solo concert tour that year.

As per VH1, Jackson reportedly wrote 60 songs for the album, but Jones talked him into an 11-song album. With it, songs like the catchy pop tunes “Smooth Criminal” and “The Way You Make Me Feel” along with more spiritual songs like “Man in the Mirror” were born.

“Mr. Jackson and his longtime producer Quincy Jones have concocted synthesizer-driven arrangements that are clear but that carry a solid kick,” the New York Times said of the album in 1987. “Amid the modern electronics, there’s a taste of older soul music, with the rolling groove and blues harmonies of ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and the gospelly lift of ‘Man in the Mirror.’ “

”Bad doesn’t aim for as many emotional extremes as Thriller,” the publication’s review added. “It’s a well-made, catchy dance record by an enigmatic pop star.”

Bad went on to sell an estimated 45 million copies worldwide.