Questlove - Wikipedia Questlove This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. ( March 2012 ) Questlove Questlove in Sao Paulo in 2011 Background information Birth name Ahmir Khalib Thompson Also known as Questo BROther ? uestion Brother Question Qlove Questlove Gomez ( 1971 - 01 - 20 ) January 20, 1971 ( age 46 ) Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States Genres Hip hop neo soul alternative hip hop Occupation ( s ) Drummer joint frontman percussionist multi-instrumentalist disc jockey music journalist record producer actor Instruments Drums keyboards bass guitar percussion turntables vocals Years active 1987 -- present Labels Okayplayer Def Jam Associated acts The Roots Soulquarians J Dilla D'Angelo The Philadelphia Experiment John Mayer Erykah Badu Christian McBride Ahmir Khalib Thompson ( born January 20, 1971 ), known professionally as Questlove ( stylized as ? uestlove ), is an American percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, music journalist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer and joint frontman ( with Black Thought ) for the Grammy Award - winning band The Roots. The Roots have been serving as the in - house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon since February 17, 2014, continuing the role they served during the entire run of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. He is also one of the producers of the Broadway musical Hamilton. He is the cofounder of Okayplayer and Okayafrica. Additionally, he is an adjunct instructor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University. He has produced recordings for artists including Elvis Costello, Common, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Bilal, Jay - Z, Nikka Costa, and more recently, Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and John Legend. He is a member of the production teams the Soulquarians, The Randy Watson Experience, The Soultronics, The Beat Biters ( with producers Just Blaze and 9th Wonder ), The Grand Negaz, and The Grand Wizzards. Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 1993 -- 96 : Beginnings with The Roots 2.2 1997 -- 2003 : Breakthrough, Soulquarians era, and increased output 2.3 2004 -- present : Continued output and other media endeavors 3 Filmography 3.1 Film 3.2 Television 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links Early life Ahmir Khalib Thompson was born in Philadelphia on January 20, 1971. His father was Lee Andrews of Lee Andrews & the Hearts, a 50s doo - wop group. His mother, Jacquelin Thompson, together with his father, was also part of the Philadelphia - based soul group Congress Alley. His parents did not want to leave him with babysitters, so they took him on tour with them. He grew up in backstages of doo - wop shows. By the age of seven, Thompson began drumming on stage at shows, and by 13, had become a musical director. Questlove 's parents then enrolled him at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. By the time he graduated, he had founded a band called The Square Roots ( later dropping the word `` square '' ) with his friend Tariq Trotter ( Black Thought ). Questlove 's classmates at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts included Boyz II Men, jazz bassist Christian McBride, jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, and singer Amel Larrieux. He attended senior prom with Larrieux. After graduating from high school, he took jazz and composition classes at Settlement Music School. Thompson began performing on South Street in Philadelphia using drums, while Tariq rhymed over his beats and rhythms. Thompson and Jay Lonick, a childhood friend, were known for improvisational `` call and response '' percussion battles with plastic buckets, crates, and shopping carts. This style translated into Thompson 's usual drumset arrangement, with most drums and cymbals positioned at waist level, emulating his original street setups. Career 1993 -- 96 : beginnings with the Roots Questlove at a New York book signing Further information : The Roots The Roots ' lineup was soon completed, with Questlove on drums and percussion, Tariq Trotter and Malik B on vocals, Josh Abrams ( Rubber Band ) on bass ( who was replaced by Leonard Hubbard in 1994 ), and Scott Storch on keyboards. While the group was performing a show in Germany, they recorded an album entitled Organix, released by Relativity Records in 1993. The group continued recording, releasing two critically acclaimed records in 1995 and 1996, Do You Want More ? ! ! ! ? ? ! and Illadelph Halflife, respectively. 1997 -- 2003 : breakthrough, Soulquarians era, and increased output See also : Soulquarians In 1999, The Roots had mainstream success with `` You Got Me '' ( featuring Erykah Badu ) ; a song which would earn the band the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for 2000. The song helped fuel the success of their Things Fall Apart album, which has since been hailed as a classic, eventually selling platinum. He also served as executive producer for D'Angelo's 2000 album Voodoo, Slum Village 's album Fantastic, Vol. 2 and Common 's albums Like Water for Chocolate and Electric Circus. Besides the aforementioned albums, he has also contributed as a drummer or producer to Erykah Badu 's Baduizm and Mama 's Gun, Dilated Peoples ' Expansion Team, Blackalicious 's Blazing Arrow, Bilal 's 1st Born Second, N * E * R * D 's Fly or Die, Joshua Redman 's Momentum, and Zap Mama 's Axel Norman Ancestry In Progress, Fiona Apple 's Extraordinary Machine, and Zack De La Rocha 's currently unreleased solo material. In 2001, he collaborated as the drummer for The Philadelphia Experiment, a collaborative instrumental jazz album featuring Christian McBride and Uri Caine, and the DJ of the compilation Questlove Presents : Babies Making Babies, released on Urban Theory Records in 2002. He played drums on Christina Aguilera 's song `` Loving Me 4 Me '' for her 2002 album Stripped. In 2002, he and The Roots released the critically acclaimed Phrenology, which went gold. In 2003, he played drums on John Mayer 's song `` Clarity '' from his second album Heavier Things. He also arranged and drummed on Joss Stone 's cover of the White Stripes ' `` Fell in Love with a Girl ''. 2004 -- present : continued output and other media endeavors Questlove performing for The Roots at the 2011 Ottawa Bluesfest In 2004, The Roots released The Tipping Point, which contained a more mainstream sound, allegedly due to demands from Interscope Records. The album sold 400,000 copies. In 2004, Questlove appeared in Jay - Z 's Fade to Black. In addition to appearing in the documentary portion of the film, Questlove was the drummer / musical director for all portions of the show with a live band. In 2005, Questlove appeared along with such luminaries as Madonna, Iggy Pop, Bootsy Collins, and Little Richard in a television commercial for the Motorola ROKR phone. Questlove also appears for a short clip in the 2005 film, The Longest Yard. In 2006, Questlove appeared in the film Dave Chappelle 's Block Party as well as a couple of skits on Chappelle 's Show, including the Tupac `` The Lost Episodes '' skit and a skit featuring John Mayer wherein Questlove performs in a barber shop, inducing the occupants to dance and rap. With the exception of The Fugees and Jill Scott, Questlove served as the drummer at the 2004 Brooklyn street concert and was the musical director for the entire show. Questlove was given an Esky for Best Scribe in Esquire magazine 's 2006 Esky Music Awards in the April issue. In 2006, Questlove was one of a handful of musicians hand - picked by Steve Van Zandt to back Hank Williams Jr. on a new version of `` All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight '' for the season premiere ( and formal ESPN debut ) of Monday Night Football. Along with his fellow Motorola ROKR commercial co-stars, Bootsy Collins and Little Richard, Questlove 's bandmates included Rick Nielsen ( Cheap Trick ), Joe Perry ( Aerosmith ), Charlie Daniels, and Bernie Worrell. 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. Questlove joined Ben Harper and John Paul Jones for the Bonnaroo SuperJam on June 16, 2007, to play a 97 - minute set. In 2007 he provided the foreword for the book Check the Technique. On March 2, 2009, Questlove and the Roots began their run as house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. In late 2009, while serving as an associate producer of the hit Broadway play Fela !, he recruited Jay - Z to come on board as a producer. It was reported that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have also signed on as producers. In January 2010, he was writing material with British singer Duffy for her second album. He has been featured in a commercial for Microsoft 's short - lived mobile phone, the Kin. In 2010, he made a cameo in the music video of Duck Sauce 's song `` Barbra Streisand '', and with The Roots released the album Dilla Joints with renditions of producer J Dilla 's music. He contributed drums to the song `` You 've 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. Questlove was planning to collaborate with Amy Winehouse before her death in July 2011. He said `` We 're Skype buddies, and she wants to do a project with Mos and me. Soon as she gets her visa thing together, that 's gon na happen. '' Rolling Stone named Questlove # 2 in the 50 Top Tweeters in Music. In June 2011, Questlove played drums alongside The Roots bassist Owen Biddle for Karmin 's cover of Nicki Minaj 's `` Super Bass. '' Questlove placed 8th in the Rolling Stone Readers Pick for Best Drummers of all Time. He currently performs with The Roots on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, continuing his duties from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where he occasionally performed solos titled ' re-mixing the clips ' where he drew on his production and DJ abilities to dub video clips, cue audio samples in rhythm, and play drum breaks simultaneously. On June 18, 2013 Questlove released a memoir, Mo ' Meta Blues : The World According to Questlove. On October 22, 2013, Harper Design published the Questlove authored book, Soul Train : The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation. 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. In September 2016, Questlove launched a weekly radio show on Pandora, Questlove Supreme. Notable guests have included Solange, Chris Rock, Maya Rudolph, and Pete Rock, among others. 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. During the interview, he also discussed his musical and cultural interests, how The Roots started a `` movement '' with three 15 - passenger vans, and the impact of the loss of musical icons in 2016. Filmography Questlove at a June 19, 2013 book signing Film Year Title Role 2000 Bamboozled Actor Brooklyn Babylon Actor 2014 Finding the Funk Co-executive producer 2014 Top Five Executive music producer, composer 2016 Popstar : Never Stop Never Stopping Himself 2016 Vincent - N - Roxxy Composer Television Year Title Role Notes 2003 Street Time Composer 1 episode Chappelle 's Show Original sketch music 12 episodes 2009 -- 2014 Late Night with Jimmy Fallon Musical director 969 episodes 2009 Yo Gabba Gabba ! Actor 1 episode Nickelodeon Presents History and Heritage Composer Special VH1 Rock Docs Composer 1 episode 2011 iCarly Actor 1 episode 2011 Philly 's 4th of July Jam Music director Special 2012 Independent Lens Composer 1 episode 2012 The Cleveland Show Voice 1 episode 2012 2012 Soul Train Awards Composer Special 2013 The Eric Andre Show Actor 1 episode 2013 `` Top Chef '' Himself 1 episode 2014 -- 15 Inside Amy Schumer Composer, actor 11 episodes 2014 Law & Order : Special Victims Unit Actor 1 episode 2014 -- present The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Musical director 600 + episodes 2016 SoundClash Producer 1 episode 2015 Empire Voice 1 episode 2015 The Jim Gaffigan Show Himself 1 episode 2015 Lucas Bros. Moving Co. Voice 1 episode 2015 Parks and Recreation Actor 1 episode 2016 Hamilton 's America Additional music Special 2016 Night Train with Wyatt Cenac Actor 1 episode 2016 Roots Executive music producer 1 episode 2016 SPARKLE : A Don Quixote Story Producer 1 episode In 2000 Questlove appeared with The Roots in Bamboozled, directed by Spike Lee. In 2001 Questlove appeared with many other Roots members as The Lions in Marc Levin 's 2001 Brooklyn Babylon, in which Black Thought had a starring role. In 2005, Questlove appeared with The Roots in Dave Chappelle 's Block Party and the following year, he appeared in the popular music film, Before the Music Dies. His latest appearances include Beats, Rhymes & Life : The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest and documentary The Black Power Mixtape 1967 - 1975 ( 2010 ) for which he won the Swedish Guldbagge Award for best music together with Om'Mas Keith. In 2013, Questlove appeared as himself on The Eric Andre Show as a part of the show 's band. In 2014, Questlove appeared in the famous James Brown documentary Mr. Dynamite : The Rise Of James Brown that was directed by Alex Gibney In 2015, Questlove appeared on Parks and Recreation as Levondrious, the estranged brother of Retta 's character Donna Meagle. Questlove also appeared in a documentary film that depicts the life and death of Amy Winehouse called Amy. In 2016, Questlove appeared in the film Popstar : Never Stop Never Stopping as himself. References Jump up ^ Bischof, Jackie. `` Questlove of The Roots Branches Out to Africa ''. WSJ. Retrieved 2017 - 01 - 03. Jump up ^ https://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/clive-davis-institute/1409302753 Jump up ^ `` Ahmir Thompson Reflects On His ' Roots ' ''. NPR. March 13, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2012. Jump up ^ YouTube ( August 3, 2010 ). `` ? uestlove ( Questlove ) Record Library ''. afroart3000. Retrieved September 27, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Questlove on His Musical Upbringing, Hip - Hop 's 40th, Soul Train and New Memoir, `` Mo ' Meta Blues '' ``. Democracy Now !. August 14, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013. Jump up ^ Ahmir `` Questlove '' Thompson ; Ben Greenman ( June 18, 2013 ). Mo ' Meta Blues : The World According to Questlove. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4555 - 0136 - 6. Retrieved August 15, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Superjam 2007 - Bonnaroo - Artists ''. Bonnaroo. Retrieved May 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Wax Facts Press : : About the Book ''. Waxfacts.com. June 12, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2011. Jump up ^ Farhi, Paul ( March 1, 2009 ). `` Ready or Not, Here Comes Jimmy Fallon To Update Late Night ''. Washington Post. p. M1. Retrieved February 28, 2009. Jump up ^ Sutton, Benjamin ( November 16, 2009 ). `` ? uestlove Recruits Jay - Z, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith as Producers on Fela ! The Measure ''. Thelmagazine.com. Retrieved May 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Singer Duffy begins new album sessions in New York BBC1 January 13, 2010 ''. BBC News. January 13, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Evanescence -- Evanescence ''. Discogs. Discogs. 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2014. Jump up ^ Fox, Luke. `` The Roots ' Questlove Interviews ``. Exclaim.ca. Retrieved May 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Karmin 's Cover of Super Bass ''. Cover of Super Bass. youtube.com. Retrieved August 8, 2011. Jump up ^ https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Train-Music-Dance-Generation/dp/0062288385 Jump up ^ https://www.amazon.com/something-food-about-Creativity-Innovative/dp/0553459422 ^ Jump up to : `` Questlove Lands His Own Radio Show on Pandora ''. Complex. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Solange Reveals Why Master P 's Influence Was Golden On Her Latest Album ''. MTV News. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Questlove and Chris Rock nerd out over hip - hop on Juan Epstein podcast -- listen ''. Consequence of Sound. 2014 - 11 - 25. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Pete Rock interviewed on Questlove 's Pandora show ( read an excerpt ) ''. BrooklynVegan. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Questlove Ca n't Take a Compliment ''. www.wnyc.org. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2017. Jump up ^ `` Här är alla vinnare av Guldbaggen 2012 Film Nöjesbladet Aftonbladet ''. Aftonbladet.se. January 23, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Chance the Rapper / Mel B ''. Adult Swim. Retrieved February 23, 2016. Further reading Christgau, Robert ( June 17, 2013 ). `` Give the Drummer Some ''. The Barnes & Noble Review. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Questlove. Questlove 's Celebrity Stories Questlove RBMA lecture Questlove on Police Racial Profiling, Stop & Frisk, the Message He Took from Trayvon Martin Verdict on Democracy Now ! Questlove on His Musical Upbringing, Hip - Hop 's 40th, Soul Train and New Memoir, `` Mo ' Meta Blues '' on Democracy Now ! Questlove discography at Discogs Questlove on IMDb Media offices Preceded by Max Weinberg Late Night bandleader March 2, 2009 -- February 7, 2014 Succeeded by Fred Armisen Preceded by Rickey Minor The Tonight Show bandleader February 17, 2014 -- present Succeeded by Incumbent The Roots Black Thought Captain Kirk Douglas Damon `` Tuba '' Bryson Kamal Gray Mark Kelley James Poyser Questlove Stro Elliot Owen Biddle Hub Ben Kenney Malik B. Rahzel Martin Luther Dice Raw Scratch F. `` Knuckles '' Walker Scott Storch Studio albums Organix ( 1993 ) Do You Want More ? ! ! ! ? ? ! ( 1994 ) Illadelph Halflife ( 1996 ) Things Fall Apart ( 1999 ) Phrenology ( 2002 ) The Tipping Point ( 2004 ) Game Theory ( 2006 ) Rising Down ( 2008 ) How I Got Over ( 2010 ) Undun ( 2011 )... And Then You Shoot Your Cousin ( 2014 ) Collaborations Wake Up ! ( 2010, with John Legend ) Betty Wright : The Movie ( 2011, with Betty Wright ) Wise Up Ghost ( 2013, with Elvis Costello ) Live albums The Roots Come Alive ( 1999 ) Jay - Z : Unplugged ( 2001, with Jay - Z ) Extended plays From the Ground Up ( 1994 ) The Legendary ( 1999 ) Songs `` Proceed '' ( 1995 ) `` What They Do '' ( 1996 ) `` You Got Me '' ( 1999 ) `` The Next Movement '' ( 1999 ) `` Break You Off '' ( 2002 ) `` The Seed ( 2.0 ) '' ( 2002 ) `` Do n't Say Nuthin ' '' ( 2004 ) `` Star '' ( 2004 ) `` Do n't Feel Right '' ( 2006 ) `` Here I Come '' ( 2006 ) `` How I Got Over '' ( 2009 ) `` Wake Up Everybody '' ( 2010 ) `` Make My '' ( 2011 ) `` It Ai n't Fair '' ( 2017 ) Related articles Discography Late Night with Jimmy Fallon The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Brooklyn Babylon The Tonight Show Incarnations Tonight Starring Steve Allen Tonight Starring Jack Paar The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson The Tonight Show with Jay Leno The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Episodes Carson Leno O'Brien Fallon The Tonight Show Band Kevin Eubanks and The Tonight Show Band Max Weinberg and The Tonight Show Band Rickey Minor and The Tonight Show Band The Roots Recurring sketches Miss Miller Carnac the Magnificent Floyd R. Turbo Headlines Leno era sketches O'Brien era sketches Fallon era sketches Related articles The Steve Allen Show The Jay Leno Show `` Johnny 's Theme '' Late Night Carson 's Comedy Classics 1992 host conflict The Late Shift film 2010 host and timeslot conflict The War for Late Night Johnny Carson : King of Late Night `` Ew ! '' Lip Sync Battle Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon Soulquarians Questlove Bilal Common D'Angelo Erykah Badu J Dilla James Poyser Yasiin Bey / Mos Def Pino Palladino Q - Tip Talib Kweli Albums Things Fall Apart ( 1999 ) Voodoo ( 2000 ) Like Water for Chocolate ( 2000 ) Mama 's Gun ( 2000 ) 1st Born Second ( 2001 ) Phrenology ( 2002 ) Electric Circus ( 2002 ) See also Native Tongues Posse The Philadelphia Experiment The Randy Watson Experience The Ummah Guldbagge Award for Best Original Score Questlove & Om'Mas Keith ( 2011 ) Benny Andersson ( 2012 ) Matti Bye ( 2013 ) Mattias Bärjed & Jonas Kullhammar ( 2014 ) Lisa Holmqvist ( 2015 ) Jan Sandström ( 2016 ) VIAF : 7146483 LCCN : no2006067486 GND : 1023317745 BNF : cb166421478 ( data ) MusicBrainz : 9436fbf8 - 5498 - 43e9 - 9a8d - eccbe53df6ad Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Questlove&oldid=801371561 '' Categories : 1971 births African - American drummers African - American record producers American record producers Alternative hip hop musicians American DJs American hip hop record producers Grammy Award winners Hip hop DJs Living people Musicians from Philadelphia The Roots members The Tonight Show Band members Best Original Score Guldbagge Award winners Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from July 2014 BLP articles lacking sources from March 2012 All BLP articles lacking sources Articles with hCards All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2013 Articles with unsourced statements from January 2014 Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Deutsch Français Italiano Polski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 19 September 2017, at 08 : 13. 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Question: who is the drummer on the tonight show with jimmy fallon
Answer: Ahmir Khalib Thompson