Quincy Jones, the late legendary producer, songwriter and composer extraordinaire, returns to the top of a Billboard chart for the first time since his death on Nov. 3, 2024, thanks to his production work on Michael Jackson’s 43-year-old classic “Thriller.”
The song, which Jones produced, makes its annual Halloween resurgence across multiple Billboard charts dated Nov. 8. “Thriller” reenters the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 32 and rises 7-4 on Hot R&B Songs and 18-5 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. According to Luminate, the song raked in 8.9 million official U.S. streams (up 74% week-over-week), 4.2 million in radio airplay audience (up 90%) and 2,000 downloads sold (up 101%) Oct. 24-30. With Halloween falling on a Friday this year — the first day of the next data tracking period — the song is likely to see an even bigger bump on next week’s Nov. 15-dated charts.
Thanks to his work on “Thriller,” Jones hits No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Producers and R&B Producers charts. It’s the first time he’s ranked at No. 1 on a Billboard chart since Feb. 9, 2019, when he led the since-discontinued Jazz Digital Song Sales chart with 1981’s “One Hundred Ways” featuring vocalist James Ingram. Before that, he last placed at No. 1 on March 6, 1999, when his album From Q, With Love ruled both the Jazz Albums and Contemporary Jazz Albums charts.
Over his seven-decade career, Jones helped shape modern popular music, producing seminal works by Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Lesley Gore and the Brothers Johnson, among many others. He produced 12 No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 in his lifetime, nine of which were sung by Jackson.
In addition to his behind-the-scenes triumphs, Jones earned many other No. 1s under his own name. He topped Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs with “Stuff Like That” (1978), “I’ll Be Good to You” featuring Ray Charles and Chaka Khan (1990), “The Secret Garden” (1990) and “Tomorrow (A Better You, Better Me)” with Tevin Campbell (1990). He also led Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums with Body Heat (1974) and Back on the Block (1990); Dance Club Songs with “I’ll Be Good to You” and “Stomp” featuring the Cast of Stomp/The Yes/No Productions (1996); and Contemporary Jazz Albums with Back on the Block (1990), Q’s Jook Joint (1995) and From Q, With Love (1999).
Billboard‘s R&B/Hip-Hop Producers and R&B Producers charts are based on total points accrued by a producer for each attributed song that appears on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, respectively. For songs with multiple producers, every credited producer splits points equally (which occasionally leads to ties on rankings).
The full R&B/Hip-Hop Songwriters and R&B/Hip-Hop Producers charts, plus those for other genres, can be found on Billboard.com.
