Home Music Happy Birthday Questlove: The Roots 1st Day Of ‘The Tonight Show’ Mini...

Happy Birthday Questlove: The Roots 1st Day Of ‘The Tonight Show’ Mini Documentary

191

Ahmir Thompson was born in Philadelphia on this date in 1971. The 48-year-old drummer better known as Questlove, co-founded The Roots in the late 1980s, going on to become one of the most important and groundbreaking hip hop groups of the era. In addition to his work with The Roots and many other musicians over the years, Questlove is also an accomplished DJ, producer, podcast host and author.

Another entry on Questlove’s resume is that of television show bandleader. After years of successful touring and critically acclaimed albums, in early-2009 The Roots became the house band on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

They moved to The Tonight Show in early-2014 when Fallon was named host of the long-running late-night talk show. Questlove and his longtime collaborator and The Roots co-founder Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter often interact Fallon, appearing in recurring sketches like Slow Jam The News and others. The Roots are also known for digging deep to provide personalized walkout music for the show’s guests.

Questlove recorded a mini-documentary feature for Okayplayer on February 17, 2014 – the day of the premiere episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. With The Roots set to make their Tonight Show house band debut, Questlove can be seen being followed by a camera crew from the time he hits the gym in the morning through a post-episode debriefing about performing with U2. Watch the two-part mini-doc below:

Part 1

Part 2