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The Recording Academy paid tribute to the life and legacy of Quincy Jones with a special medley during the 2025 GRAMMYs. The legendary producer and composer, a 28-time GRAMMY winner, passed away in November 2024 at the age of 91.

Featuring a heartfelt introduction from Will Smith, the dazzling performance featured a myriad of artists who honored the multihyphenate’s extensive catalog. The tribute began with Cynthia Erivo and Herbie Hancock blowing the roof off of L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena with a jazzy rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon,” which Jones famously arranged for Frank Sinatra’s 1964 rendition accompanied by Count Basie. An instrumental version by Joe Harnell won a GRAMMY in 1963 for Best Performance By An Orchestra – For Dancing.

Next, current nominee Lainey Wilson was backed by Jacob Collier and a live band for “Let the Good Times Roll.” Notably, the song earned Jones one of his first two GRAMMY nominations, for Best Arrangement, in 1961. Thirty-four years later, Jones memorably assembled Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Bono to cover the song — which was later inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2009 — on his 1995 album Q’s Jook Joint. 

Following Wilson’s twangy take on the jump blues classic, Wonder showed off his famous harmonica skills for the 1962 instrumental jazz standard “Bluesette” — which closed out Jones’ 1975 LP Mellow Madness — with another assist from Hancock. From Hancock’s piano bench, wonder led the entire arena in a sing-along of “We Are the World.”

Read more: Remembering Quincy Jones: Musical Pioneer, Inspiration, Activist & Renaissance Man

“This song fed millions of people in Ethiopia,” Wonder said to introduce the 1985 charity single — which Jones produced featuring an all-star line-up including Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen and many more.

“You see those people on the screen? You see the people up there?” Wonder continued as photos flashed from the song’s famed recording session. “That day, Quincy told us to keep our egos out, and at the door. And we are still the world. And I say to you, we’re still the children, we are still the people who will fight and die for this nation. So we definitely have to be able to celebrate each other’s cultures all the time. You feel me?” The anthem by USA for Africa won multiple GRAMMY Awards in 1986, including Record Of The Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

Between musical numbers, Smith then returned to the mic to share the impact Jones left on his life as executive producer of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” “He said something to me that became the absolute center of how I wanted to have my career, how I wanted to live my life,” the rapper-turned-actor said. “He looked right in my face, and he said, ‘It is your job to take care of these people.’ And I’ve done everything I can through my career to try to live up to Quincy’s demand.

“All of Q’s children and all of us who just loved him like he was our father, know this: Quincy Jones always took care of people,” Smith continued. “And that’s how he fed the world. Quincy taught us all that life is a feast, and you don’t stop ‘til you get enough.”

Finally, the segment concluded with Janelle Monáe paying tribute to Jones’ long and fruitful working relationship with Jackson with a performance of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” After channeling the King of Pop by moonwalking across the stage, the ten-time GRAMMY nominee jumped up on a table in the audience, throwing off her bedazzled suit jacket to reveal a t-shirt emblazoned with “I [Heart] QJ.” (For its part, the suit coat appeared to end up around none other than Taylor Swift’s shoulders by the time Monáe took her final bow.)

In addition to 80 GRAMMY nominations, Jones took home golden gramophones for Producer Of The Year three times, and both Album and Record Of The Year twice. He was also the recipient of the GRAMMY Trustees Award in 1989, the GRAMMY Legend Award in 1991 and was named MusiCares Person of the Year in 1996.