Questlove to Receive SummerStage Icon Award at City Parks Gala

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson will be honored with the SummerStage Icon award for his artistic contributions to New York City, the City Parks Foundation has announced. The Grammy-winning artist will DJ a private dance party to conclude the annual dinner and fundraiser taking place Sept. 25 at the iconic SummerStage venue in Central Park.

City Parks Foundation, through its Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage Festival, is one of the largest presenters of free arts and cultural programs in New York City parks, and serves more than 285,000 New Yorkers each year through arts, education, sports and community building initiatives.

In 2024, the City Parks Foundation honored John and Patrick McEnroe with the City Parks Foundation Icon award as accomplished tennis players and philanthropists. This year, Phildalehia-born Questlove will become an honoree.

As co-founder of the hip-hop group the Roots, Questlove will appear on the SummerStage on July 20 in Queens’ Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. This year’s SummerStage lineup also includes Soccer Mommy, Rakim, Camilo, Jessica Pratt and Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues, among others.

Questlove is a creative force across the entertainment industry, and is an Academy Award‒winning feature documentary maker, responsible for “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” and the Emmy-nominated “Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius).”

In 2025, Questlove has also signed on to direct a documentary about the best-selling band, “Earth, Wind and Fire.” These projects will mark Questlove’s latest forays into filmmaking following his directorial debut and will be produced by Two One Five Entertainment — the production company founded by Questlove and Black Though). In addition to his work as a director, Questlove has executive-produced documentaries “The League,” from Academy Award nominee Sam Pollard, and the Sundance award winner, “Descendant,” from Emmy nominee Margaret Brown

Thompson has also written multiple books, including the New York Times best-sellers “Mo’ Meta Blues,” “Creative Quest,” “Music Is History” and “The Rhythm of Time,” which is the first book in his middle grade series of the same name. Recently, he published his first picture book, “The Idea In You.”