Jones' 1981 compilation album, The Dude featured collaborations with Patti Austin, Heatwave's Rod Temperton, and frequent collaborator James Ingram. The Dude was nominated for 12 Grammy's (including Album Of The Year), and won three. The album also featured what would be the first of many of Jones' experimentations with rap music, which was a relatively new recorded genre at the time.
Jones also composed the theme music for television's iconic Sanford & Son, and he produced artists as diverse as George Benson, Frank Sinatra, Grandmaster Melle Mel, and The Brothers Johnson. His television production credits include The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, and he produced, composed, and arranged the legendary single, We Are The World which brought the most iconic 1980's artists together under the name USA For Africa, raising over $220 million for world hunger. Jones' life was the subject of several books, movies and documentaries.