After 70 years of making music, Quincy Jones died at the age of 91. The father of seven and 28-time Grammy Award winner battled several health setbacks over the years, though his cause of death was not revealed. Over the past several years of his life, Jones opened up about managing brain aneurysms in addition to a diabetic coma — both of which happened at different times.
Learn about Jones’ health, below.
In a June 2018 Facebook post, Jones shared the details about his past aneurysms, which “felt like a shotgun was fired inside of [his] head.” He was just 41 when he suffered from the health scare.
“Back in 1974, I suffered an aneurysm (a weakness in the main artery to the brain that caused it to pop) & it felt like a shotgun was fired inside of my head [sic],” the late jazz artist wrote.
Jones also described the operation he underwent, which took more than seven hours. After the doctors “discovered a second aneurysm that was ready to blow,” he said they “had to schedule a second operation.” The ordeal, Jones noted, led his friends to plan a funeral in case he died during the second operation.
“During this time, it didn’t look too promising, so my friends planned a memorial service for me at The Shrine in LA, & I basically attended my own funeral [sic],” Jones admitted. “Man, everyone was there … Sidney Poitier, Sarah Vaughan, you name it. It was special to see so many people there to celebrate what would’ve been my 41 years of life, but to now be in London getting ready for my 85th birthday celebration concert tomorrow at The O2 is absolutely unbelievable.”
Following the operation, Jones recalled being told that he could “never” play the trumpet again “because of the metal implants.” Nevertheless, he persevered, noting that he wouldn’t let the health setback “stop [him] from pursuing other passions.”
