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Questlove named musical director for upcoming Oscars

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Mar 25, 2021 6:25 PM ET

Just when you think Questlove has surely run out of room on his decades-long resume, the acclaimed musician adds something new to his plate.

The Academy announced Wednesday the full production team for the 93rd Academy Awards, and Questlove was named as the musical director. The 50-year-old is an Academy member, though he has never served in this role before. He did, however, back Utkarsh Ambudkar's rap recap at last year's Oscars.

Questlove founded hip-hop collective The Roots alongside Black Thought in 1987. The group went on to collect three Grammys—with 14 nominations—and currently serves as the house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon , where Questlove is a musical director.

Questlove has won five Grammys in total, and the Academy's official website gave an overview of his extensive experience:

"Questlove has held musical directing positions with such artists as D’Angelo, Eminem and Jay-Z. He executive-produced the documentary series “Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America” through his production company Two One Five Entertainment and will next direct a documentary about Sly Stone. He made his directorial debut with the feature documentary “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary."

The Philadelphia native has a rooting interest at the Oscars, too, as he voiced the character Curley in Pixar's Soul. The Pete Doctor and Kemp Powers music-centric animated film is up for three Oscars.

The show will air Sunday, April 25, beginning at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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