Questlove is renowned for excellence in many forms of media and entertainment. He is best known as the co-founder of Philadelphia’s most influential hip-hop group, The Roots, which is the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Questlove is the musical director for the show. He has won six Grammy Awards, and has directed a variety of musicians, including D’Angelo and Jay-Z.
In 2021, Questlove made his directorial debut with the Academy Award-winning feature documentary Summer of Soul, which explores the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film premiered on the opening night of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary. The movie broke the record for the highest-selling documentary to come out of Sundance when it was acquired by Searchlight/Hulu, and it has since gone on to win Best Feature Documentary at the 2022 Academy Awards, Best Documentary at the 2022 British Academy Film Awards and Best Music Film at the 2022 Grammy Awards. In addition, former President Barack Obama named Summer of Soul one of his favorite movies of the year.
Questlove has written multiple books, including the New York Times bestsellers Mo’ Meta Blues and Creative Quest, the James Beard Award-nominated somethingtofoodabout, and the newly released Music is History.
Additionally, he served as executive music producer and composer on the A&E miniseries, Roots, and co-produced the Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton. He even co-starred in a voiceover role in Disney Pixar’s Oscar-winning animated feature film, Soul.