He produced Michael Jackson’s smash record “Thriller,” as well as Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of “The Color Purple” and the NBC sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” — projects that helped bolster his legacy as a hit-maker and media mogul.

Jones received numerous awards and accolades, including recognition at the John F. Kennedy Center Honors in 2001, a National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2010 and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. In…