Quincy Jones was born on March 14, 1933, in the city of Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after the birth of his younger brother, Lloyd, his parents divorced, which resulted in both sons being raised alone by their father, a carpenter, and his new wife. She already had three children of her own and had three more with Quincy Jones' father. For her part, her biological mother, Sarah Jones, was continually in and out of psychiatric hospitals as a result of her schizophrenia. For this reason, it was not until his adulthood that Quincy was able to enjoy a closer relationship with her.  

At the age of 10, Quincy Jones moved with his family to Bremerton, a suburb of Seattle, Washington. It was there that he began teaching trumpet lessons at school and where, after three years, he met Ray Charles, a musician who was only fifteen years old. The two decided to form a band and play at weddings, events and local clubs. Before long, Quincy Jones was composing and arranging the band's music.

During this time, he even arranged and played trumpet for Lionel Hampton. Subsequently, he began working as a freelance arranger on many jazz sessions and as musical director on Dizzy Gillespie's 1956 international tour for Barclay Records in Paris.

When he returned to New York, Quincy composed and arranged for Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. All this while holding an executive position at Mercury Records and while producing his own increasingly pop-oriented records.

By 1960, he began composing music for films and television programs, producing more than 50 scores and positioning himself as the pioneering African-American musician in the Hollywood area.

In 1975, he founded Qwest Productions, where he arranged and produced hit albums for Frank Sinatra and many other pop greats. In 1978, he managed the production of the soundtrack for the musical adaptation of "The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz", starring music greats such as Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. It was in 1982, when Jones produced the best-selling album of all time, "Thriller".

Jones has been married three times: to Jeri Caldwell from 1957 to 1966 (in which relationship they had a daughter); to Ulla Andersson from 1967 to 1974 (which produced a son and a daughter); and to Peggy Lipton from 1974 to 1990 (with whom he had two daughters). In addition, he also has two daughters from previous relationships.