Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is well on his way to becoming an EGOT winner. He already has an Oscar for Best Documentary for Summer of Soul, and he has six Grammys. Now he is hoping to grab an Emmy for his dedicated work directing the 50th anniversary documentary Ladies and Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music. I would give it to him just for his dedication watching all 900-plus episodes of the past half century of Saturday Night Live.
As he tells me in today’s episode of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens, he felt he had to watch them all. In the end it all worked out because the docu has been critically acclaimed and much watched. And it isn’t even his only shot at an Emmy this year because his Sly Stone bio-doc, Sly Lives!, is also in contention, meaning he is competing against himself for votes.
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An American drummer who leads the Tonight Show band, record producer, disc jockey, filmmaker, music journalist, culinary aficionado, actor, podcast host and author of eight books, Questlove is one of the most versatile artists in the business. He also has a collection of record albums so large it takes up three storage facilities.
We talk about all of this and more in our conversation as Questlove takes us “behind the lens.” To watch, click on the video above.
Join me every Monday and Friday during Emmy season for another episode of Behind the Lens.