32 Facts About Questlove

1.

Questlove is the drummer and joint frontman for the hip hop band the Roots.

2.

Questlove is one of the producers of the cast album of the Broadway musical Hamilton.

3.

Questlove is the co-founder of the websites Okayplayer and OkayAfrica.

4.

Questlove has produced recordings for artists including Elvis Costello, Common, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Jay-Z, Nikka Costa, and more recently, Booker T Jones, Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and John Legend.

5.

Questlove is a member of the production teams the Soulquarians, the Randy Watson Experience, the Soultronics, the Grand Negaz and the Grand Wizzards.

6.

Questlove is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, six Grammy Awards and a BAFTA Award.

7.

Questlove's father was Arthur Lee Andrews Thompson, from Goldsboro, North Carolina.

8.

Questlove's parents did not want to leave him with babysitters so they took him with them when they were on tour.

9.

Questlove's parents enrolled him at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts.

10.

Questlove's DNA revealed from both of his biological parents that he is of West African descent, specifically the Mende people.

11.

Questlove is the only guest to have appeared on Gates's program to be descended from slaves known by name, ship, and where they came from in Africa.

12.

Questlove served as executive producer for D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo, Slum Village's album Fantastic, Vol.

13.

Questlove played drums on Christina Aguilera's song "Loving Me 4 Me" for her 2002 album Stripped.

14.

Questlove arranged and drummed on Joss Stone's cover of the White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl".

15.

In 2005, Questlove appeared along with performers including Madonna, Iggy Pop, Bootsy Collins, and Little Richard in a television commercial for the Motorola ROKR phone.

16.

Questlove appears for a short clip in the 2005 film, The Longest Yard.

17.

In 2006, Questlove appeared in the film Dave Chappelle's Block Party, as well as a couple of skits on Chappelle's Show.

18.

Questlove was given an Esky for Best Scribe in Esquire magazine's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue.

19.

In 2006, Questlove was one of a handful of musicians hand-picked by Steve Van Zandt to back Hank Williams Jr.

20.

In 2007, Questlove co-produced with VH1's The Score winning producer Antonio "DJ Satisfaction" Gonzalez, from the Maniac Agenda, the theme to VH1's Hip Hop Honors 2007.

21.

Questlove joined Ben Harper and John Paul Jones for the Bonnaroo SuperJam on June 16,2007, to play a 97-minute set.

22.

Questlove continues to perform with the Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, continuing his duties from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

23.

Questlove has been featured in a commercial for Microsoft's short-lived mobile phone, the Kin.

24.

Questlove contributed drums to the song "You Got a Lot to Learn", which was recorded for the self-titled third studio album by Evanescence, but did not appear on the final release.

25.

Questlove was planning to collaborate with Amy Winehouse before her death in July 2011.

26.

In September 2016, Questlove launched a weekly radio show on Pandora, Questlove Supreme.

27.

Questlove was interviewed by Alec Baldwin for the January 3,2017, episode of Baldwin's WNYC podcast Here's the Thing, where he joked about being "obsessed" with his Wikipedia profile.

28.

Questlove served as the musical director of both the 2020 and 2021 Academy Awards ceremony, in addition to being the show's in-house DJ.

29.

On October 22,2013, Harper Design published the Questlove-written book, Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation.

30.

Questlove released his third book, Something To Food About: Exploring Creativity with Innovative Chefs, along with co-author Ben Greenman and photographer Kyoko Hamada, which was published by Clarkson Potter Books on April 12,2016.

31.

In 2018, Questlove curated the soundtrack The Michelle Obama Musiaqualogy for Michelle Obama's memoir Becoming.

32.

Questlove released the book Creative Quest, regarding the concept and cultivation of creativity, in April 2018.