Questlove Honored With Peabody Trailblazer Award For Cultural Impact & Storytelling

Questlove will be honored with the 2025 Peabody Trailblazer Award in Los Angeles on October 10 for his expansive contributions to music, documentary storytelling and the preservation of Black culture.

The Peabody organization announced the award earlier this week, citing the Oscar-winning filmmaker and longtime drummer of The Roots as a “vital cultural archivist and social commentator.”

The honor celebrates individuals whose creative work drives cultural progress and social change.

“Through his prodigious output of creative work across documentary filmmaking, publishing, music, and more, Questlove has emerged as one of our most important voices in understanding American culture of the past and present,” said Peabody executive director Dr. Jeffrey Jones, per Variety.

He added that Thompson’s work highlights “the centrality of black musical genius in shaping and defining music and culture across the world.”

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Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who first rose to fame as co-founder and drummer of The Roots, has built a career that stretches far beyond the stage.

The Roots, known for their genre-blending sound and live instrumentation, currently serve as the house band for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”

His 2021 documentary Summer of Soul unearthed long-forgotten footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and took home both the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance. It also earned a Peabody Award.

Thompson’s recent projects include Emmy-nominated documentaries, Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius) and Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years Of SNL Music further cementing his role as a storyteller focused on Black excellence and historical preservation.

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The Peabody Trailblazer Award has previously gone to Quinta Brunson, creator of Abbott Elementary, and Issa Rae, who was the inaugural recipient. Brunson is set to present the award to Thompson during the ceremony.

Civil rights icon Angela Davis will join Thompson for a live discussion about his legacy and influence during the event, which will be held at The Sun Rose Hotel in West Hollywood. Dropbox is the presenting sponsor.