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Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson has worn many hats across his career—drummer, filmmaker, author, professor, curator—but this fall he’ll officially be honored for being one of culture’s great connectors. The Peabody organization announced last week that Questlove will receive the 2025 Peabody Trailblazer Award on October 10 at The Sun Rose Hotel in Los Angeles, recognizing his decades of work at the intersection of music, history, and social commentary.
Peabody executive director Dr. Jeffrey Jones praised the Philadelphia native as a “vital cultural archivist,” noting how his output “across documentary filmmaking, publishing, music, and more” has made him “one of our most important voices in understanding American culture of the past and present.”
For many, Questlove is first remembered as the rhythmic backbone of The Roots, the pioneering live hip-hop band he co-founded in 1987 with Black Thought. From their early underground buzz to mainstream breakthroughs like Things Fall Apart and Phrenology, The Roots built a reputation for fusing live instrumentation with sharp lyricism—long before live hip-hop was industry standard. Their evolution from Philly street corners to becoming the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon only underscored how the group’s authenticity translated across generations and formats.
Questlove’s artistry, however, has never been confined to the drum kit. His Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul reintroduced the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival to a global audience, reframing it as a pivotal moment in Black music history. Recent projects like Sly Lives and 50 Years of SNL Music continued that archival mission, both earning Emmy nods. Beyond film, his books—including Music Is History—have blended scholarship and storytelling, cementing his role as one of music’s foremost chroniclers.
The Peabody Trailblazer Award celebrates creators whose work sparks cultural progress and social change. Previous honoree Quinta Brunson will present Questlove with the award before he sits down with Civil Rights icon Angela Davis for a conversation on how his career has continually bridged art and activism.
From anchoring The Roots’ genre-bending sound to curating forgotten histories on screen and page, Questlove has built a body of work that ensures Black creativity remains at the center of America’s cultural memory. As Dr. Jones put it, his efforts remind us of “the centrality of Black musical genius in shaping and defining music and culture across the world.”
