• Quincy Jones, the iconic music mogul who produced Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” died recently at the age of 91.
• Jones lived with type 2 diabetes for years and previously shared how he approached challenges managing the condition.
• He also spoke publicly about health scares, including two brain aneurysms in 1974 and a diabetic coma in 2015.

Legendary music producer Quincy Jones, who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, and many others, died this week at age 91. Jones, who had type 2 diabetes, was public throughout his life about his health problems.

He died on Sunday, November 3, at home with his family. With a decades-spanning career, Jones was a titan of the music industry, receiving 28 Grammy Awards and countless other accolades.

He worked with artists like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jackson, for whom he produced “Thriller” in 1982, which became the best-selling album of all time.

But, alongside his many successes, Jones experienced health setbacks as well, including brain aneurysms and receiving a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

Two aneurysms nearly killed Jones in 1974

In 1974, Jones had two brain aneurysms at the age of 41.

Brain aneurysms are deformities, resembling balloons or berries, in the arterial wall of the brain that fill with blood. If an aneurysm bursts, the resulting brain damage can be fatal without immediate medical attention.

Jones recalled the incident in a post on his Facebook page in 2018.

“It felt like a shotgun was fired inside of my head. While operating for 7.5 hours, my doctors discovered a second aneurysm that was ready to blow, so they had to schedule a second operation. During this time, it didn’t look too promising, so my friends planned a memorial service for me at The Shrine in LA, & I basically attended my own funeral,” he wrote.

Though he recalls having a mere one in a hundred chance of surviving, the operations were both successful. But, to prevent further recurrences, doctors advised him that he could no longer play the trumpet, which he’d played since his teenage years.

His doctors had used metal clips to close off the aneurysms in his brain and were worried that intracranial pressure caused by playing the instrument would dislodge them.

In an interview with GQ magazine, Jones said he swore to give up his trumpet playing. But, while on tour in Japan shortly after recovering, he decided to pick it up again. This time, though, he felt an immediate pain in his head from the pressure.

After that scare, he put down the trumpet for good.

How Quincy Jones learned to manage type 2 diabetes

Jones lived with and managed type 2 diabetes for years, which required him to make major lifestyle changes.

In 2015, he went into a diabetic coma, a moment he recalled in a Facebook post from 2019 as “what should’ve been my last breath.”

“A diabetic coma refers to when you have diabetes and that you lose consciousness for some reason. It can be due to low blood sugar, or it can be due to very high blood sugar,” Sun Kim, MD, an endocrinologist and associate professor of medicine at Stanford Medicine, told Healthline.

“It’s very serious. If you don’t present to medical attention, there’s a high degree of mortality associated with it,” she added.

Following the incident, Jones decided to give up drinking alcohol for good.

“I had enough alcohol to last multiple lifetimes, & the doctors told me I had to call it quits!! After substituting drinking with eating sugar-free popsicles, I lost 50 pounds, & started feeling 37 again,” he wrote.

Kevin Peterson, MD, MPH, Vice President of primary care at the American Diabetes Association, told Healthline that quitting drinking is an important step in managing diabetes, alongside other lifestyle changes.

“The most important lifestyle changes are maintaining a healthy diet and a healthy weight. Maintaining blood sugars in a healthy range is more difficult with alcohol consumption since alcohol changes the way that the liver processes blood sugar. Unhealthy drinking habits make it difficult to maintain healthy blood sugars and pose a health risk in themselves,” he said.

Complications commonly associated with type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease that can significantly increase an individual’s risk for other health problems. These risks include:

• Heart and blood vessel damage
• Kidney damage
• Eye damage
• Foot damage
• Dementia

Individuals with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. The disease is also a leading cause of blindness in adults due to a condition known as diabetic retinopathy, which is when the blood vessels in the retina of the eye are damaged.

“Diabetes affects the entire body. In particular, it damages blood vessels. Over time, this damage can take a toll on eyes, kidneys, and on the nerves. People with diabetes are at a higher risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other forms of cardiovascular disease,” said Peterson.

However, there are ways to manage the condition, including lifestyle changes, exercise, and medication.

“The way you’re supposed to live with diabetes is how we’re all supposed to live, but it just becomes more real when you have diabetes. We all could eat less sugar. We could all eat less processed foods. We could all eat less refined carbs and more whole grains,” said Kim.

Doctors and researchers also continue to make improvements to diabetes care and management year after year.

“Many advances in diabetes have occurred since Mr. Quincy was first diagnosed with diabetes several decades ago. New labs, medicines, and devices make the treatment of diabetes simpler and more effective now than it has ever been,” said Peterson.

The bottom line

Quincy Jones, the famed producer behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” has died this month at the age of 91.

Jones lived with type 2 diabetes for many years and learned to manage it through lifestyle changes, including avoiding drinking alcohol.

He was also public with other health scares throughout his life, including having two brain aneurysms in 1974 and falling into a diabetic coma in 2015.

Type 2 diabetes is a complex disease that damages the blood vessels and increases the risk of multiple other conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetic retinopathy.