The record producer behind Michael Jackson�s biggest hits has said their �souls will be joined together for ever�.

Gareth Llewellyn

The record producer behind Michael Jackson's biggest hits has said their "souls will be joined together for ever".

During a visit yesterday to the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, Quincy Jones also said the singer's death was "very surrealistic and a painful process".

The 76-year-old, who was behind the controls for three of Jackson's biggest albums - Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad - said he heard the news about his death while returning from a trip overseas.

"I went to Luxembourg and the first thing I found out was that I lost US television personality Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett and Michael," he said.

"It just blew my mind. I talked to him Jackson when I was in London just after they announced the O2 concerts, when he sold over 50 concerts in four hours. I was going to see him one evening but I had a prior dinner date so I was going to see him in California instead. But I never saw him again.

Jones said the pair almost never worked together after Jackson's record company said he was too "jazzy" to produce a pop record. "When we first got together he said he wanted me to find a producer for him. I said, Right now you don't have a song in The Wiz,'" referring to the musical film in which Jackson appeared, "and I got him a song called You Can't Win".

After this, said Jones, he told Jackson he would like to produce his debut solo album. "He told the record company but they said, Quincy is too jazzy, forget it'."

Jones said this stance brought Jackson to tears, and that it was only at the singer's manager's insistence that he was recruited to work on the record that would eventually become Off the Wall and sell millions of copies.

Jones's career as an arranger and recorder stretches back to the 1950s and he has worked with major figures such as Ray Charles, Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra.

Nevertheless, he said Jackson was among the most talented artists he had worked with. "Michael is one of the best singers, dancers and performers on the planet," he said. "I feel lucky enough and blessed that I worked with Dinah Washington, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles ... everybody.

"They all had their own individuality. Each one of them, we made some pretty good records and that comes from love and trust and respect."

Jones, who has Welsh roots on his father's side of the family, visited the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama's degree ceremony and was made a fellow of the institution.