How Quincy Jones produced ‘the greatest night in pop’

Quincy Jones , a versatile giant in the music industry who has ties to the first song played on the moon and the bestselling album of all time, died on Nov. 3 at the age of 91.

"With full but broken hearts, we must share the news of our father and brother Quincy Jones' passing," his family said in a statement, per The Associated Press . "And although this is an incredible loss for our family, we celebrate the great life that he lived and know there will never be another like him."

With 28 Grammys to his name, Jones held the No. 3 spot for most Grammys of all time . His most recent win came last year, following his involvement on Harry Styles' album "Harry's House," which won album of the year, per USA Today .

Jones worked with just about everyone throughout his 70-year career, including Louis Armstrong, Paul Simon, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra and Little Richard. His talents were vast, and while he was a performer and musician in his own right, he was best known as a producer and composer.

Earlier this year, the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, premiered the documentary "The Greatest Night in Pop," highlighting one of Jones' greatest feats: bringing together a collective of superstars to record the charity single "We are the World," which has raised more than $80 million for humanitarian aid in Africa and the United States since its release nearly 40 years ago.

Here's a look at that massive undertaking, and some of Jones' other significant contributions to the entertainment industry.

How Quincy Jones brought 'We are the World' to life When Lionel Richie's manager, Ken Kragen, approached him about a music project to raise money for famine relief in Africa, Richie immediately knew who should be at the helm.

"I wanted Quincy involved because he's the master orchestrator," Richie said in "The Greatest Night in Pop," which is now available to stream on Netflix. "He had the respect of every musician on the planet."

Richie initially envisioned Stevie Wonder to be his co-writer for the project, but he had a hard time tracking him down. So when Jones got on board, the producer was instrumental in getting Michael Jackson to be a co-writer.

At a later point in the documentary, Jones reflects on how Jackson initially didn't want to sing or appear in the music video for "We are the World" because he was worried about overexposure. But the King of Pop eventually changed his tune — much to Jones' relief.

"I talked Michael into it," he says in an audio clip featured in the documentary. "That would've been one of the biggest mistakes of his career if he hadn't shown up."

With names like Jones, Jackson and Richie attached to the project, other artists began signing on. As the list of high-profile artists interested in participating grew, Jones put pressure on Jackson and Richie to write a song.

They may have recruited "the most beautiful artists in the world," he said, but none of it would matter if they didn't get the song right.

Jackson and Richie wrote "We are the World" in roughly two weeks — and Jones, who produced the song along with Michael Omartian, gave them his ultimate seal of approval.

"I listened to it at the house and absolutely fell on the floor," he said in an audio clip.

More than 40 music superstars gathered together on the night of Jan. 28, 1985, to record "We are the World." With so many different touring schedules, that date was essentially a now or never situation; it was the night of the American Music Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, so many of the performers were all in the same place.

But not everyone.

On the day of the recording session in Los Angeles, Stevie Wonder was still in Philadelphia and Bruce Springsteen was flying in after having just concluded his "Born in the U.S.A." tour the night before. And during the American Music Awards ceremony — where Richie served as host and also won six awards — Cyndi Lauper almost backed out of the project at the last minute, telling Richie that her boyfriend didn't believe the song would be a hit.

It wasn't a given who would show up for the recording session at A&M Studios following the awards ceremony.

But the turnout didn't disappoint. Some of the biggest names in music showed up for an all-nighter recording session, including Richie, Jackson, Wonder, Springsteen, Lauper, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers , Tina Turner , Billy Joel , Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson , Kenny Loggins, Steve Perry, Hall & Oates, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Huey Lewis .

Jones' longtime collaborator and vocal arranger Tom Bahler played a key role in the relative efficiency of the recording session, having done substantial research on the artists beforehand to determine their vocal ranges and to decide who should sing certain solos or be paired together.

To help the recording process go as smoothly as possible, Jones wrote up a sign that he placed above the doorway of the studio: "Check your ego at the door."

But, as "The Greatest Night in Pop" reveals through present-day interviews and archival footage of the recording session, it wasn't always smooth sailing.

The documentary shows Jones navigating the chaos of keeping 46 high-profile entertainers on task. When Wonder derails the recording to suggest that they sing in Swahili, Waylon Jennings gets frustrated and leaves.

Throughout the recording process, Dylan looks physically uncomfortable and Jones helps him work through his nerves so he can sing his solo (though it was ultimately Wonder who put Dylan most at ease by sitting at the piano and imitating the singer-songwriter's voice). And Jones encourages a doubtful Huey Lewis to take on a solo when Prince didn't show.

The fabled recording session lasted from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.

As Bahler recalls in the documentary, Diana Ross was in tears after everybody finally left the studio in the morning.

"Quincy said, 'Diana, are you OK?'" Bahler recalled. "And she said, 'I don't want this to be over.' It was the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard."

"We Are the World" would go on to become a monster hit, wining four Grammys — including for song of the year.

What else is Quincy Jones famous for?Career-defining collaborations with Michael Jackson

Prior to "We are the World," Jones worked with Jackson as a producer on two of his albums: "Off the Wall" (1979) and "Thriller" (1982), the latter remaining the bestselling album of all time, per The New York Times . Jones also produced Jackson's 1987 album "Bad."

'It's My Party' — a No. 1 hit for Lesley Gore

Jones produced a 16-year-old Lesley Gore's "It's My Party," which went on to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was also behind several of Gore's other hits from this time period, including "It's Judy's Turn to Cry" — the follow-up to "It's My Party" — and "You Don't Own Me," per Rolling Stone .

Frank Sinatra, 'Fly Me to the Moon'

Jones collaborated with crooner Frank Sinatra beginning in the late 1950s. Sinatra hired him to arrange his 1964 album "It Might As Well Be Swing," and a couple of years later he also worked on Sinatra's live album "Sinatra at the Sands," which featured his famous arrangement of "Fly Me to the Moon." That recording would become the first song to play on the moon, according to The Hollywood Reporter .

Film scores and TV themes

Jones composed the music and was a producer for Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple," a film based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Other film scores from Jones included "The Italian Job" and "In Cold Blood," which gave him his first Oscar nomination.