How Jimmy Fallon Got the Roots & Questlove As His House Band

Unlike the mid-run switch over at The Late Show, the Roots have loyally served as Jimmy Fallon’s house band ever since he began hosting Late Night in 2009. Questlove, Black Thought, the cutie who tries to keep a straight face while doing the thank-you-note music, and the rest of the Roots crew have remained a steadfast ( and silly ) presence in Fallon’s world ever since, which included a promotion to The Tonight Show in 2014. While the pairing of host and band may have initially been perceived as a strange one to viewers, Black Thought — who co-founded the group with Questlove — told Rolling Stone in a new interview how Fallon only had his sights set on them. “Man, the way we got the gig, Jimmy was always a huge music nerd,” he explained. “He’s a huge, huge Beastie Boys f