AKG Honours Legend Quincy Jones With Lifetime Achievement Award

The atmosphere was electric as top producers, musicians, DJs and music industry professionals came together Tuesday night at the iconic Capitol Studios in Hollywood to honour legendary producer Quincy Jones with an AKG Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Held in Capitol’s historic A and B studios, guests were treated to a performance by Quincy Jones protégé and multi-Grammy award winner, Jacob Collier, along with a variety of immersive experiences that celebrated the microphone and headphone brand’s iconic past while showcasing its rich future. The evening culminated with host and broadcast journalist Nic Harcourt presenting Quincy Jones the AKG Lifetime Achievement Award, for Quincy’s contribution to music since the early 1950s.

“For almost seven decades in this business as a musician, composer, arranger, conductor and producer, I have always gone for the music that gives me goosebumps. And whether it was Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Frank Sinatra and the Count Basie Orchestra, the Brothers Johnson, Michael Jackson, the artists who contributed to the recordings of We Are The World, right up until today, without fail that music was delivered through AKG audio products,” said Quincy Jones. “As you celebrate your 70th anniversary, I have no doubt in my mind that AKG will continue to be an essential part of the music recording and listening experience for many, many more decades to come.” 

“Throughout his legendary career, Quincy Jones has created some of the most iconic records in the history of the recording industry and we are honoured to present him with a Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Erik Tarkiainen, Vice President of Global Marketing, HARMAN Professional Solutions. “For 70 years, AKG has been creating headphones and microphones that empower the spirit of creativity and innovation, and no one embodies that spirit more than Quincy.” 

In Studio A, DJ Kita Klane helped set a classic vibe in the studio by mixing old-school classics from the 1950s through the 1980s, while in the Control Room, Nic Harcourt hosted discussion with renowned acoustics expert Dr. Sean Olive about the art of listening. 

In Studio B, guests were transported into the future of music and creativity with a set by DJ Austin Millz. In the Control Room, a mixing station allowed guests to plug in AKG K371 studio headphones to mixers and hear the classic Quincy hit “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson. They listened to individual instrument and vocal tracks, or created their own unique mixes of the song, live. Guests were also able to use a range of AKG studio headphones to listen to a variety of classic Quincy songs from multiple decades in the very same ISO booths that many of those songs, samples and sounds were recorded.

The evening culminated with the removal of a dividing wall between Studios A and B for a special performance by Jacob Collier. The London-based, Grammy-winning English musician/multi-instrumentalist celebrated Quincy Jones by performing three of the producer’s biggest hits, including “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson, “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra, and “Give Me the Night” by George Benson.