Quincy Jones wins Ivors Special International award

Music legend Quincy Jones won the Special International award at the 52nd Ivor Novello Awards today. The award is sponsored by PRS and the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. PRS has sponsored the Ivors since 1974 which is one of the longest-running continuous music sponsorships in the world.

No one has more Grammy nominations than Quincy Jones – a total of 77, winning on 26 occasions. He has achieved international success over five decades.

To one generation he is best known as the producer of Thriller, to another as the composer of film scores such as In the Heat of the Night and TV themes like Ironside. An older generation still remembers his work with jazz legends Lionel Hampton, Count Basie and Duke Ellington, while the younger generation recognise his Soul Bossa Nova, the theme for the first Austin Powers movie.

In 1968 Jones, along with his songwriting partner Bob Russell, became the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

View a full list of winners.